
























COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 
















































































EPHESIANS 

SANCTIFICATION BY 
FAITH IN CHRIST 



E. S. YOUNG, D. D. 


\\ # 

Professor of Sacred History and Theology, Author of 
“Life of Christ,” and “Acts of the Apostles”; “The 
Bible Outline,” “The Bible Geography,” “The 
Old Testament History,” “The New 
Testament History,” “Analysis of 
the Books of the Bible.” 


“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman 
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word 
of truth.” 



1923 

BIBLE STUDENTS' LEAGUE 
Claremont, Cal. 









Entered According to Acts of Congress in the Year 1923 

BY 

E. S. YOUNG, Claremont, Cal. 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. 


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 


The Bible text used in this book is taken from the American 
Standard Edition of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, 
by Thomas Nelson & Sons, and is used by permission 



'MO 






SYSTEMATIC BIBLE STUDY 

T HE Bible Students’ League was organized in 1886 and 
is one of the first Correspondence Schools to offer Bible 
instruction by mail. The work during the first years was 
largely experimental from the fact that text books written 
by different authors had to be adopted, therefore, it was 
difficult to offer uniform, complete, and systematic courses 
on the entire Bible. 

After some years, the President of the League, realizing 
the necessity of a systematic course in the study of the 
sixty-six books of the Bible, prepared four text books 
known as The Bible Outline, The Bible Geography, The 
Old Testament History and The New Testament History. 
These text books give the student a general knowledge 
of the entire Bible, and are used for class work in many 
churches, and by Sunday-school teachers and ministers for 
home study. The students who have followed these books 
have found them loyal to the Word of God and the means 
of increasing faith in God and His plan for the human 
family. 

After teaching these text books for about twelve years, 
many students were enrolled and completed the course, and 
realizing the advantages of systematic study, repeatedly 
asked for text books for a Second Course. Two text books 
were prepared for the Second Course fully in harmony with 
the system studied in the First Course. 

The Life of Christ, or Harmony of the Four Gospels, 
is a book containing 348 pages. The Scripture given in 
the Four Gospels is arranged in chronological order. The 
Life of Christ is divided into nine periods. Each period 
is illustrated with maps, by which the student can name 
and locate the important events and places. These give the 
student a systematic knowledge of the Four Gospels 

3 


4 


SYSTEMATIC BIBLE STUDY 


enabling him to follow Christ’s journeys and name the 
events in chronological order from Christ’s birth to His 
ascension. The Life of Christ is to be revised and pub¬ 
lished in two volumes giving additional comment upon 
each period. 

The second book, Acts of the Apostles, contains 320 
pages, giving the Scripture of one of the best versions, 
showing the full history of the Early Church and reasons 
why the Apostles and Early Disciples were able to make 
such rapid progress although bitterly opposed by the world 
and the Jewish Church. The book contains a number of 
maps on which are traced the journeys of the first mission¬ 
aries and the important events are given in chronological 
order. 

These two books, giving a knowledge of the Four Gos¬ 
pels and the Acts of the Apostles, have been the means 
of helping many Sunday-school teachers and ministers, 
strengthening their faith in the Word of Truth and making 
them more efficient workers in the church. 

The Second Course was introduced in 1915 and a num¬ 
ber have completed this course and made a demand upon 
us for other text books by which the same System of study 
could be followed. The author of the above text books 
has been a student and teacher of the Bible for more than 
thirty-five years, and decided the best and most helpful 
course to be offered would be text books giving a syste¬ 
matic knowledge of what is presented in the section of the 
Bible known as the letters written to the seven churches. 
These letters were written for definite Christian instruction. 
It is the part of the Bible in which Christ is the author 
of All-truth, the Holy Spirit the guide into All-truth, and 
the Apostle Paul the chosen vessel to whom this truth was 
revealed, who put this truth into these nine letters that 
man might, through faith in Christ, become justified, sanc¬ 
tified, and glorified. 

Although the author at the beginning of his study of 


SYSTEMATIC BIBLE STUDY 


5 


these Church Epistles had the privilege of being under 
some of the most able teachers and constantly had the 
help of some of the very best commentators, he found it 
a task beyond his expectations to complete three text books 
showing fully the system presented by Christ and the Holy 
Spirit for Christian education in this age of grace. He 
does not claim, in the preparation of the manuscript for 
these books, entire originality, having used at times the 
very thought given by some of these teachers and com¬ 
mentators, and if their names should not be mentioned in 
the books, we take this method of acknowledging our in¬ 
debtedness for any help received in the preparation of the 
manuscript. 

We now in a humble way present to our students these 
text books: Romans as the first book, showing that all 
men have sinned and only by faith in Jesus Christ can they 
be justified; Ephesians, the second book, which admits the 
student into an advanced class of the School of Grace, so 
that through faith in Christ he becomes sanctified, dwell¬ 
ing with Christ in the Heavenlies, and realizes what it is 
to be a member of the Body of Christ; Thessalonians, the 
third book, written to the members of a model church who 
found Christ through the teaching of Romans, dwelt in a 
state of sanctification through the teaching of Ephesians, 
and were to receive instruction for glorification through 
faith in Jesus Christ. 

The student should learn that only by confidence in 
the Author of Truth, Christ, and by confidence in the guide, 
Holy Spirit, can he receive from these text books the help 
and inspiration that will make him more efficient as a 
teacher and preacher of the Word. Those who will entet 
into this most important part of the Bible and be honest 
with themselves and the Word, will be willing to have 
answered and incorporated into their lives, the things asked 
for by the Apostle Paul in the two prayers recorded in 
Ephesians. (Eph. 1:17-23), “That the God of our Lord 


6 


SYSTEMATIC BIBLE STUDY 


Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the 
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that 
ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what 
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” 
(Eph. 3:14-21), ‘‘Now unto him that is able to do exceed¬ 
ing abundantly above all that we ask or think, according 
to the power that worketh in us.” 

We admonish the student to constantly remember that 
the evangelists and teachers who are true to Christ and 
His Word are limited in their mission and must perform 
the task assigned them as set forth in the following Scrip¬ 
ture (Eph. 4:11-16), “And he (Christ) gave some, apos¬ 
tles ; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, 
pastors, and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for 
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of 
Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of 
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto 
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” 






















EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN 
CHURCHES 

/ T'HE Apostle Paul wrote nine Epistles which he ad- 
dressed to seven churches. These have been espe¬ 
cially written for the instruction of every Christian. Every 
word of Scripture in these nine letters is about him and 
all contain a complete course of Christian education. The 
other Epistles written by the Apostle are addressed to 
individuals and not to churches, and are also meant for 
the Christian and for his learning, but they do not contain 
the truths concerning the Church of God, the Body of 
Christ or tell how the Jews and Gentiles are being made 
one Body in Christ. This presents a marked difference 
between the Epistles written to the churches and those 
written to individuals. 

I. THE BIBLE A LIVING BOOK 

God’s Book contains special instruction for each period 
of the human race. The first book of the Bible contains 
an Outline of the entire Word of God. During the progress 
of the human family, God revealed Himself more fully and 
made plain what was contained in the first book of the 
Bible by adding book to book until the Word of God was 
complete in sixty-six books. These contain God’s pur¬ 
poses and plans for the human family. It is the only 
book that God has left with the human race by which her 
origin, history, and destiny can be known. 

II. DIVISIONS OF THE HUMAN RACE 

After God created the world He made man, and gave 
him dominion over that which He had created. In the 
beginning God’s government was universal and included 
the entire human family. Because of man’s failure to 

9 


10 EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 


respond to God and His Word, God called a family through 
which to reveal Himself as the Redeemer of the world. 
That family developed and became known to us as the 
Jewish nation. He made conditional and unconditional 
covenants with this nation and a very large part of the 
Bible is given to show the origin of this nation, her his¬ 
tory during periods of faithfulness and unfaithfulness and 
her final destiny. The nation having failed in the mission 
entrusted to her, became a scattered nation and but a rem¬ 
nant, the elect of God, are worthy to be used in bringing 
about, through the suffering of this remnant, the Church 
of God. Therefore, we have three divisions in the human 
family: Gentiles, Jews, and the Church (1 Cor. 10:32). 

III. RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH 

It took sixteen hundred years to write the inspired Word 
of God which contains special teaching for each of the 
three classes into which the human family is divided. The 
Apostle Paul, living during the period when part of this 
Word of Truth was revealed, understood fully how very 
important it is to use the teaching in the Word of God 
for the class to which it was written. The Apostle, who 
is the author of these nine letters to these seven churches, 
attended school and was under instructors who were either 
not honest or were ignorant as to the right division of the 
Word of God. It was by the use of literature, not in 
harmony with the Word of God, and by the instruction 
of unfaithful teachers of the Word that he himself became 
a bitter enemy of the truth and a persecutor of the Church. 
Paul met his Lord on the way to Damascus and was told 
by Him what he must do. He was told that he must fol¬ 
low God’s plan and God’s truth. By doing so his eyes 
were opened and he became one of the most faithful writers 
and expositors of the truth of God. 

Paul is no longer a persecutor but a revealer of Christ, 
and as a chosen vessel, he becomes acquainted with God’s 


EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 11 


Word and under the direction of the Holy Spirit is able 
to comprehend the Scripture given by God to the Gentiles 
and Jews and to write these letters to the seven churches 
for Christian education. 

The Jewish church, ignorant of the Word of God, and 
not able to rightly divide it, rejected Christ as the redeemer 
of the world. The Jews had a system of religion of their 
own which was supported by their own literature. Since 
they were ignorant of what God had promised the nation 
in the different covenants, they were unprepared to receive 
Christ, who is so fully revealed in the Old Testament, “He 
came unto His own (things) and His own (people) received 
Him not, but as many as received Him (of the Jewish 
people) to them gave He power to become the children 
of God, even to them that believe on His name,” (John 
1:11-12). We have learned what the Jewish nation did 
because ignorant of the Word of Truth and not capable 
of rightly dividing it. The same results will follow when 
the last warning given by the Apostle Paul to all Bible 
teachers is not heeded, “Study to show thyself approved 
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” Humanity does not 
like what God says, but what man says. 

IV. CHRIST’S VIVID PICTURE OF THIS AGE 

Christ’s teaching and work as Redeemer of the world 
was constantly opposed by the Jewish Church. The time 
came for the disciples as well as all His followers to have 
some knowledge of the progress of the Kingdom when 
opposed by the world and strongest religious body then 
on earth. Christ gave this information in seven parables 
(Matt. 13:1-53). These show the progress, successes and 
failures of the Kingdom of God in this entire age of grace. 
This is Christ’s prophecy and he interprets the same which 
has been found true in every century since the parables 
have been spoken. They set forth man’s ignorance and 


12 EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 


rejection of the Word, and through disobedience to the 
Word of God as forseen by Christ we cannot expect the 
nations to turn unto Christ and progress be made toward 
universal salvation. 

V. THE CHRISTIAN’S LITERATURE FOR 

THIS AGE 

Christ uttered another important prophecy concerning 
the literature for Christian education in this age of grace 
(John 16: 12-14), “I have yet many things to say unto you, 
but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the 
Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: 
(all the truth) for He shall not speak of Himself; but 
whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He 
will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for 
He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” 
Christ uttered this prophecy and we look to Him for its 
fulfilment. Christ had prophesied sometime before this to 
His disciples, “Upon this rock I will build my church,” 
(Matt. 16:18). When He said this He was making prepara¬ 
tion for His church of the future which could not be organ¬ 
ized until after His death on Calvary, burial in the tomb, 
resurrection, and ascension unto the right hand of God. 
The church He was to build would then have a Head, 
Christ, the Author of Truth, sitting at the right hand of 
God. He told His disciples that He had much unrevealed 
truth that would not be revealed until He would send the 
Holy Spirit, the comforter who is the Guide into all truth. 

1. When, Where, and How Was This Prophecy of 
Christ Fulfilled? These are the things that Christ promised 
would happen after the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, 
was come: First, He shall guide you into all the truth; 
Second, He shall not speak of (or from) Himself; Third, 
He shall show you things to come; Fourth, He shall glorify 
me; Fifth, He shall receive of mine and show it unto you. 
Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and 


EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 13 


the life,” (John 14:6). There is only one way by which 
man may find his way home to God and that is by the 
way of the cross. Christ is the all-truth. It is this all-truth 
of Christ that the Holy Spirit is to reveal unto the churches 
in this age. Christ then is the only source of the all-truth 
capable to give instruction in the building of His church. 
To build the Church of God, there was need to have the 
Gospel of Grace as presented to the seven churches. The 
four Gospels are the completion of the Old Testament his¬ 
tory as well as the beginning of the New. The King and 
the Kingdom had been prophesied and promised all through 
the ages. The Jews both rejected the King and the King¬ 
dom and put the King to death. This surely is not good 
news. God’s future judgments for the rejection and death 
of the King are revealed in Scripture. In the early days 
of the Christian Church, Christ, through the Holy Spirit 
and the Apostles, gave to the nation an opportunity to 
repent of her sins and become reconciled to God (Acts 
3:18-21), however they rejected the Holy Spirit’s teaching 
and put to death the message bearers (Acts 4:1-4, 5:17-20, 
7:58, 12:1-4). 

2. The Gospel of Grace is revealed in the Epistles to 
the seven churches. Christ is the author of the four Gos¬ 
pels given by Him while in preparation for the Church and 
dwelling in His physical body. He, being the all-truth and 
at the right hand of God, became the author of these Epis¬ 
tles to the Seven Churches; therefore, the Epistles and 
Gospels have the same person as author and are of equal 
weight and importance. No difference can be made between 
them without jeopardizing the very essence of inspiration. 
By making a difference in weight and authority, we reduce 
the Bible to the position of any man-made book and prac¬ 
tically question the words which the Holy Ghost teaches. 
That there is a difference is true, but this difference can 
only be understood (as we have said before) by a right 
division of the Word of Truth. We know that the things 


14 EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 


Christ said, while on earth, are necessarily of the highest 
importance to us dispensationally and show how the Jews 
rejected God’s plan for the nation, thus opening the way 
for salvation to be offered to the Gentiles. The instruction 
given to the Jew was intended for the Jew and would be 
only of historical value to the Church of God, for Christ 
had not begun the building of His Church and the churches 
to whom Paul addressed the Church Epistles were not in 
possession even of the Four Gospels. 

The things that Christ taught while on earth are of 
utmost importance to every Christian, and contain much 
valuable truth for all in this church age. However, the 
Four Gospels were spoken by the Lord to the nation to 
which He belonged, and the Scripture of the Old Testament 
as well as much of the New will be of great value to the 
Jewish nation, even after the Body of Christ has been 
formed and the church age closed. This is not true con¬ 
cerning the letters for the seven churches which contain 
the real Gospel of God for this age. When the Body of 
Christ has been formed and the church age closed, the 
church literature for it, found in the nine letters to the 
seven churches, will be only of historical value to the 
Jewish nation as much of the Bible is at this time to the 
Christian church. We cannot insist too strongly upon all 
Biblical students accepting the all-truth of Christ, given 
through the Holy Spirit, using Paul to formulate this truth 
in nine letters, as the special Gospel of God for this age 
of grace. We do not mean by this that the literature of 
Christ, given in the Four Gospels, should be less studied 
and emphasized, but that more attention by all Christian 
people should be given to the part of the Bible that con¬ 
tains the truth of Christ by which souls may be saved, 
trained, perfected, and glorified. 

3. The Arrangement of the Gospel of Grace found 
in these nine letters for the building of the church was 
not given until after Christ’s death, resurrection and ascen- 


EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 15 


sion to the right hand of God. There are just seven 
churches addressed by the Apostle Paul in writing these 
nine letters. Seven is a number of spiritual perfection. 
Seven is the number frequently used in the Inspired Word. 
Christ spoke seven parables (Matt. 13:1-53) and gave seven 
letters to seven churches (Rev. 2:1-3:22). The names of 
the nine letters written to the seven churches are 
as follows: Romans, First and Second Corinthians, 
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First and 
Second Thessalonians. These embody the truths of the 
Spirit’s teaching for the churches. Christ prophesied that 
when the Holy Spirit was come, He would guide into all 
the Truth. The Holy Spirit had no truth of His own 
to give and, therefore, could only give what He received 
from another (that is from Christ). He was not only to 
bring this truth which was to be of special value to all 
who would receive Christ, but the Holy Spirit was to have 
the privilege of revealing new truths as an inspiration to 
the members of the Body of Christ. All of this is contained 
in the prophecies uttered by Christ concerning this church 
literature, as is testified and experienced by all who know 
and live this truth. 

These nine church letters were not written in the order 
in which they appear in the Bible, but in almost the inverse 
order. Thessalonians was written first, and in the arrange¬ 
ment, appears last. In all the Greek manuscripts the 
arrangement is the same as we have in the Bible. This 
is not true of all the other books of the New Testament. 
Even these nine letters may appear in some other division 
of the New Testament, but the order of the nine letters is 
always the same. These letters themselves, as well as their 
order, are of Divine weight and authority. Their origin 
and arrangement is due to Christ’s authority and under 
the direction of the Holy Spirit. A careful study of each 
of these letters will help the student to understand why 
they appear in the order presented. The Holy Spirit knew 


16 EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 


which book to place first and last in order that the Christian 
might begin right and end right. The following classifica¬ 
tion will help us to understand the systematic order for 
study that right progress may be made in Christian educa¬ 
tion. If these books were studied in the inverse order, 
beginning with Thessalonians and ending with Romans, it 
would be much more disastrous than for a person to try 
to master geometry before learning the multiplication table. 
This no doubt is the cause of so much misdirected effort 
in the mission of the church, as many of the members of 
the church are ignorant of what Christ teaches. If a person 
is ignorant concerning this course of study supplied by 
Christ for those who accept Him, he must necessarily be 
an easy prey for every new teacher who presents some 
speculative philosophy of man. Christ has not only given 
us this literature, but has appointed teachers, evangelists 
and prophets to use it for the perfecting of the saints, that 
they might not be at the mercy of every “wind of doctrine,” 
(Eph. 4:14). 

4. Classification as to Subject. For man's use the 
order, number, and purpose is spiritually perfect, and can 
be studied under three heads. First: Justification through 
faith in Jesus Christ—Romans, Corinthians and Galatians. 
Romans is the beginning book in Christian education. Jews 
and Gentiles are lost and need a Savior. God’s wrath is 
revealed unto all who are dead in trespasses and sins. 
Adam was disobedient; through one act of disobedience 
sin and death came upon the whole human family. Through 
one act of obedience of the second Adam, Christ, even the 
death on the cross, many are made righteous. Through 
faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, we become 
justified before God. There is no condemnation or separa¬ 
tion from Christ of those who are thus related to God. 
Paul’s Gospel to the Romans is the ABC book in Christian 
education, which finds man in sin, and through faith in 
Christ, he stands justified before God. The Holy Spirit 


EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 17 


closes this first text book by calling attention to the Gospel 
mystery (16:25-27). This mystery is taken up in the sec¬ 
ond text book (Ephesians) written for an advanced course 
in the school of grace. 

Second: Consecration Through Faith in Jesus Christ. 
The Christian’s salvation has been completed at the cross 
as presented in Romans and he is now ready for the study 
of the book of Ephesians. Romans gave man a picture of 
his sinfulness and showed how to obtain God’s righteous¬ 
ness. The Holy Spirit in Ephesians shows God’s part in 
salvation, that even before the foundation of the world, 
Christ had been called, and when He was called, those 
who are in Him were called. God had two great purposes; 
one to establish a Head and the other to establish a Body. 
This Body is the mystery (The Church) as revealed in 
the third chapter. In this advanced course we are told that 
our Head is dwelling in the Heavenlies, and therefore, we 
who are in the Head are also dwelling in the Heavenlies. 
This book contains the doctrinal teaching for those who are 
in Christ Jesus and who are dwelling in the state of sancti¬ 
fication. Having reached this place in Christian education, 
the student is ready for the last text book in the course. 

Third: Glorification Through Faith in Jesus Christ: 
Thessalonians. This, the Apostle calls a model church. We 
would have many model churches at the present time if 
the members were trained in this course of Christian edu¬ 
cation given in Romans and Ephesians, as was this Thessa- 
lonian Church. The Thessalonian Church had heard from 
Paul himself, the truth he later embodied in the Roman 
letter and in the Ephesian letter. There has always been 
some opposition to this advanced spiritual teaching found in 
Thessalonians. This is true because persons have failed 
to follow the course outlined by the Holy Spirit to prepare 
for this truth of the church. A person may be a good 
student of the Old Testament, even of the Life of Christ, 
as presented in the Four Gospels, but ignorant of Romans 

Vol. 3—2 


18 EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 


and Ephesians, and therefore not prepared to understand 
this advanced truth which comes only to those who know 
and experience the truth of Christ as found in Romans 
and Ephesians. In Romans we are in sin; in Thessalonians 
crowned. In Romans we are lost and in ruin; in Ephesians 
we dwell in the Heavenlies; and in Thessalonians we are 
glorified. 

5. Four Text Books for an Advanced Course in Bible 
Study. These four text books include the important teach¬ 
ing, Romans: Justification Through Faith in Christ (two 
volumes); Ephesians: Sanctification Through Faith in 
Christ; Thessalonians: Glorification Through Faith in 
Christ. The other four letters, written by the Apostle to the 
churches, will not be included in this course, but will appear 
in book form and will be given their proper place among 
these nine epistles. Corinthians and Galatians follow 
Romans, and were written to show that these churches did 
not fully comprehend and practice the teaching of Romans 
—Justification by Faith. The Corinthian Church had failed 
to practice the teachings of Romans, while the Galatians had 
failed in the doctrinal teaching. 

Paul wrote three epistles while in prison. The Ephe¬ 
sian letter contained in a large measure, the all-truth on 
Sanctification. In writing to the Philippian and Colossian 
churches, Paul clearly shows that those churches had not 
fully understood his instructions in the book of Ephesians, 
because the Philippian Church failed to practice this teach¬ 
ing and the Colossian Church failed because of not fully 
understanding the doctrine. 


INTRODUCTION 

/ T'HE book of Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul 
while he was a prisoner in Rome. Perhaps at no time in 
the Apostle’s work for Christ was he suffering more intensely 
for standing true to the Master whom he served, as during this 
period of imprisonment in Rome. The Ephesian letter written 
by the Apostle Paul in this time of persecution is setting forth 
what is so much needed for advanced training in the school of 
grace by those who have accepted Jesus Christ through faith 
and, therefore, stand justified by God. They are the Christian 
men and women who have found Christ through the study of the 
first great Church book of the seven Church Epistles, known 
as the Book of Romans, whereby all must receive their standing 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In this letter to the Ephesians the Apostle sets forth the 
plan that God had even before the foundation of the world that 
those who are justified by faith in Romans might realize in 
the study of Ephesians that they have been saved because God 
chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world. So 
three Church Epistles have been placed in the Bible preceding 
this important one for beginners in Christian education to pre¬ 
pare them for these more advanced lessons as set forth by the 
Apostle in this Epistle. 

In the Book of Romans the Holy Spirit has pictured man 
in his lost condition, without hope, and therefore, set forth 
how, through the death of Christ and faith in the risen and 
ascended Lord, man might be justified by God. 

The Corinthian Church to whom Paul wrote two letters did 
not fully understand the doctrine set forth in the Book of 
Romans and, therefore, was in need of instruction to correct 
the errors that had crept into the church. The Corinthian 
letters were written especially that the practices in the church 


INTRODUCTION 


might be fully in harmony with the doctrine set forth in the 
Book of Romans. 

The Galatian letter was written because the Church of 
Galatia had also failed to comprehend the fundamentals of 
religion as set forth in the Book of Romans. In that short 
letter the Apostle calls attention to the influence the false 
teachers had in the Galatian Church. The Galatian letter calls 
attention and reproves the Galatian members for failure in the 
doctrine. The Apostle had taught them personally while he 
was traveling through this country of Galatia. There is a 
marked difference between the letter written to the Galatian 
Church and the Ephesian letter written by the Apostle Paul 
while in prison, which gives advanced instruction for those who 
are in Christ Jesus. 

The Philippian and Colossian letters were also written while 
Paul was in prison and also show Paul’s advanced thought and 
Christian experience. The Apostle calls attention in writing 
to the Philippian Church that their practice is not fully in har¬ 
mony with the instruction for practical Christianity as set forth 
in the Book of Ephesians. The Apostle in writing to the 
Colossian Church shows clearly that they did not fully under¬ 
stand the doctrine set forth in the Book of Ephesians concern¬ 
ing Christ as the Head, so the Colossian Church needed further 
instruction concerning doctrine. Therefore, the Ephesian letter 
is the second text-book set forth by the Apostle Paul to show 
that Christ is our Head and we dwell in Him in the Heavenlies 
and that He is in us and we in Him—forming for Himself a 
Body, the Church, in this age of grace. The Book of Romans, 
in a measure, shows man’s part in securing justification. The 
Book of Ephesians was written to show God’s part in the salva¬ 
tion of man and what He did that we might enjoy Spiritual life. 

These text-books for the church are to be studied in the 
order in which they have been placed in the Bible by the Holy 
Spirit. It is not possible for us to get the lessons intended 
for the Christian from the Book of Ephesians without first 
mastering the lesson presented by the Holy Spirit in the Book 


INTRODUCTION 


of Romans. The Book of Romans is the place where the sinner 
finds Christ and begins his preparatory work in order that he 
might be able to appreciate and in a sense comprehend the 
advanced lessons set forth in Ephesians. This book is espe¬ 
cially intended to deepen man’s spiritual life, to show his rela¬ 
tion to God, and to reveal what God has done that he might 
enjoy this blessed hope. 

Romans finds us lost in sin and without hope. It shows 
that by faith in a crucified Christ we are justified by God. The 
Book of Romans (16:25) hinted at the secret held in the 
mind of God from before the foundation of the world. It 
is this great secret of God that the Holy Spirit through the 
Apostle Paul sets out in the Ephesian letter for the develop¬ 
ment and training of Christian men and women for the higher 
church life. 



TO THE MANY MEMBERS 
of the 

Bible Students* League 
Who Have 

So Often Spoken and Written 
Words of Inspiration and Cheer to the Author 

These Books 
on the 

CHURCH EPISTLES 
Are Affectionately Dedicated 


ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF 

EPHESIANS 

PART I 

DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 

(1:1-3:21) 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Purpose of God in Himself Concerning Christ, the 

Head, 1:1-23 . 27 

1. Salutation, 1:1-2. 27 

2. God’s Part in Securing Our Standing in Christ the 

Head, 1:3-14 . 30 

3. Prayer for Enlightenment of Believers Respecting 

God’s Part of Our Salvation, 1:15-23. 41 

II. Ourselves as Christians, the Objects of God’s Purposes 

and Paul’s Prayers, 2:1-22. 49 

1. From Death to Life, 2: 1-6. 50 

2. We Are Saved for a Purpose, 2:7-10.. 55 

3. The Gentiles in Possession of New Nature Through 

the Blood of Christ, 2: 11-13. 59 

4. Jew and Gentile Become One Body in Christ, 2: 14-18. 62 

5. God’s Temple in Humanity, 2:19-22. 65 

III. The Church a Mystery Hidden from Past Ages, 3:1-21.. 69 

1. Purpose of God in Christ Concerning Christ Mystical, 

3:1-13 . 69 

2. Filled Unto All the Fulness of God, 3:14-21. 86 

DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 
PART II 
(4:1-6:24) 

I. Their Walk Among Themselves, 4:1-16. 94 

1. Walk Worthy of the Calling, 4:1-3. 94 















26 


ANALYSIS OF EPHESIANS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

2. Unity of the Body Itself, 4:4-6. 98 

3. The Diversity of Gifts to the Body, 4:7-11. 101 

4. The Purpose of the Gifts Bestowed by Christ, 4:12-16. 104 

II. Their Walk Among Others, 4: 17-32. 110 

1. The Walk of the Gentiles; the Others, 4:17-19. 110 

2. Method of Regeneration, 4:20-24. 113 

3. Special Traits of the New Walk, 4:25-32. 116 

III. Three Points of View for the New Walk, 5:1-14. 122 

1. Look Above Thyself; Follow God, 5: 1-2. 122 

2. Look Within Thyself; Think of Purity, 5:3-5. 123 

3. Look to God for Direction, and be Light-bearers, 

5:6-14 . 126 

IV. The Spirit Filled Life, 5: 15-21. 132 

V. Their Walk Among Themselves, 5:22-6:9. 138 

1. Christian Marriage, 5:22-23. 138 

2. Children and Parents, 6:1-4. 150 

3. Servants and Masters, 6:5-9. 154 

VI. The Christian Armor—Equipment for Conflict and Vic¬ 
tory, 6:10-20 . 159 

1. The Foes of the Church, 6:10-12. 159 

2. The Whole Armor of God, 6:13-18. 167 

3. Personal Application of Prayer, 6: 19-20. 174 

VII. The Salutation, The Conclusion, 6:21-24. 178 






















Ephesians 

PART I 

DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 

( 1 : 1 - 3 : 21 ) 


I. The Purpose of God in Himself Concerning Christ, 

the Head, 1 :l-23 

1. SALUTATION, 1:1-2 

Ver. 1. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of 
God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in 
Christ Jesus. 

Paul is the author of this letter written about A. D. 62, dur¬ 
ing his first imprisonment at Rome. The Apostle was abso¬ 
lutely definite concerning his call to the Apostleship. He 
heard the voice of the Master on the way to Damascus (Acts 
9:5), and he was as sure of his call and that it was through 
the voice of Jesus as were the Apostles of the Jews who were 
called during the time that Christ was upon the earth. He 
believed that it was by the will of God and thus his call ex¬ 
cluded all human choice and self-will. He represented himself 
as one born out of due time (1 Cor. 15:8), and that, while 
a Jew, he had a similar relation to the Gentile world as the 
twelve Apostles had to the Jewish (Gal. 2:9). In the Gospels 
and the Acts of the Apostles he is always represented as one 
delegated by the Master for some special and specific work in 
building His Church, the Body of Christ. 

This letter is written to the church already existing. It is 
addressed here to the saints which are at Ephesus. The Apostle 




28 


EPHESIANS 


Paul had spent about three years in building up the Church 
to which this letter is now addressed (Acts 19:10). It would 
be very natural for the Apostle to want to write a letter to a 
church to which he had given so many years of his ministry, 
especially one which he had built up under such tremendous 
opposition as he had met in the church at Ephesus. It seems 
strange, however, that no more of that personal relationship 
is brought out in this letter, if the letter were intended especially 
for this Church at Ephesus. There has been considerable con¬ 
troversy concerning the title “Ephesus” as it appears here in 
this verse. Ephesus is omitted in a number of the very best 
manuscripts. 

The Apostle has heard of the faith which prevails amongst 
his readers, not only that they had heard about Christ, but also 
that they had accepted Christ and were taught in Christ accord¬ 
ing as the truth is in Jesus. The Apostle hopes that by reading 
this Epistle they will be able to understand something concern¬ 
ing the mystery of Christ (3 : 2-4). The Apostle had addressed 
the Ephesian elders at Melitus (Acts 20:17-18) a number of 
years before writing this Epistle at which time he called atten¬ 
tion to personal feelings and sympathy that he had with the 
individual members of the Ephesian Church. Now in this 
letter, that sympathy and fellowship is not brought out as 
fully as one would expect from one writing to an individual 
church of which he was the pastor and builder. We called 
attention to the fact that some of the manuscripts in the fourth 
century omit the word “Ephesus.” Some of the church fathers, 
by their writings, also show that they believed the letter was 
to be a general letter to all the churches and not to the in¬ 
dividual church at Ephesus. It is supposed, upon very good 
authority, the letter was destined for a number of churches 
in Asia Minor which Tychicus was directed to visit in the 
course of the journey which took him to Colossae. When tak¬ 
ing the other letters he was intrusted with this more general 
Epistle intended for the Christian community in Asia as well 
as “to all the saints in Jesus Christ.” The Apostle in closing 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 29 


the Colossian letter directed the Colossian church to procure 
from Laodicea a letter in exchange for the letter he was sending 
them (4:16). It may be possible that the Laodicean docu¬ 
ment, thought to be lost, is the general epistle we are now 
studying. It has been suggested that the place was left blank 
for the name and that when different copies were made of this 
letter, the name of the church to which the letter was sent was 
inserted. It might be well then to insert in the first verse of 
the letter these words, “The General Epistle of Paul to the 
Churches in Asia.” 

This letter is written to Christian believers as men conse¬ 
crated to God in Christ. The Apostle, therefore, wishes to be 
understood that when he speaks of the saints, he means those 
who were true and steadfast members of the Body of Christ. 
The first verse then tells us that we are not sinners but saints; 
that we are not faithless i>ut faithful unto Christ Jesus. If this 
be true as we open this wonderful letter brought to us by the 
Holy Spirit, then the wonderful things of God will be unveiled 
unto us. His plans concerning his purposes as the Head of 
the church, over all, and concerning the building up and com¬ 
pleting of the Body of Christ—the faithful saints in the Lord— 
will be revealed. 

Ver. 2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

The opening words in this book are like the opening words 
in Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Thessalonians, 
and Philemon. In these salutations grace is the free and un¬ 
merited favor of God in its Spiritual efficacy. This is what 
the Apostle wishes to have unveiled and experienced by the 
readers of this letter. Peace is especially the complacency 
and reconciliation with which He regards His people through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by grace through faith in 
Jesus Christ that we are brought into that binding peace with 
God our Father. 

“The message of Ephesians is initially in the Will of God, 


30 


EPHESIANS 


inclusively to those in the Son of God, instrumentally by Paul 
the Servant of God, and ultimately to all the Saints of God.” 

QUESTIONS 

Who is the author of this Epistle? 

When and under what circumstances was it written? 

What Epistle must we study before we can understand the 
advanced lessons in this book? 

For whom is this letter written? 

Give meaning of grace and peace as presented in the second 
verse. 

What is the source of grace and peace? 

2. GOD’S PART IN SECURING OUR STANDING IN 
CHRIST THE HEAD, 1: 3-14 

The Apostle Paul is showing to us, his readers, God’s 
purpose concerning Himself in the establishment of the Head 
over all, which is Christ. This is the mystery of God con¬ 
cerning Himself which was in His mind before the foundation 
of the world. Much of this letter is occupied with doctrine. 
One-half of this letter emphasizes two great purposes that God 
had from before the foundation of the world. The first great 
purpose is that God might establish a Head for Himself over 
all, which is Christ. The second great purpose is that God 
might, through Christ, make from individuals of all nations, 
a mysterious body (one new man) known as the Church of 
Christ. 

Ver. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the 
heavenly places in Christ. 

This verse is the key of the whole Epistle. If you under¬ 
stand fully how to use the key you will be able to unlock the 
doors opening into the rooms that contain the treasures of God. 
The Apostle tells us that the sphere of these blessings, therefore, 
is heavenly, for they are in Christ. The Apostle said that when 
Christ was here on the earth, they knew Him after the flesh. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 31 


but now since His death, resurrection and ascension, He has 
entered into heavenly places and we who have our standing in 
the Head are there in Him. We learn in the study of the 
Scripture that God, when we were dead in sins, quickened us 
together with Christ and hath raised us up together and made 
us to sit down together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus 
(2: 5-6). 

Christ came from the Heavenlies according to the purpose 
of God. He laid aside His royal robe of glory, came down, 
humbled Himself and took upon Himself the form of man, 
and after thirty years of absence, going about in the flesh of 
man, he paid for us the price of redemption on the Cross, arose 
and ascended into the Heavenlies. 

“Blessed be God.” This is the perpetual statement of the 
Old Testament from Melchizedek down to David, of Daniel 
in his triumph and Job in his misery, but never before could 
man say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ.” “The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” surpasses and 
outshines them all. 

“Who hath blessed us.” This gives us to understand that 
the foundation of all blessings is in the purpose of God Him¬ 
self. We come in possession of Spiritual blessings. God trans¬ 
fers these rich things to us who are faithful to His Son. These 
blessings of God surround and overflow the faithful in Christ 
Jesus. There are no blessings that you can name which God 
has not in some way or another bestowed upon us. We are 
looking at God’s part in our salvation. God is the source of all 
our blessings and no sinfulness on our.part hinders this out¬ 
flow, and no merit on our part calls it forth. Notice, readers, 
that the Will of God is the source of all our blessings. There 
is but one channel through which these blessings come and 
that is through a crucified Redeemer. 

The agent through which the Apostle Paul and all the early 
saints came in possession of these blessings was through the 
infilling power of the Holy Spirit. These specific blessings 
enumerated here and bestowed by God Himself can only be 


32 


EPHESIANS 


secured and enjoyed by those who are in His Son through 
death, burial, and resurrection and seated with Him in the 
Heavenlies. It will be of utmost value to every student, to 
allow the Holy Spirit to bring him into the truth and enjoy¬ 
ment of the blessings that come by dwelling in the Heavenlies 
with Christ. The child of God dwells in a physical body, but 
must speak and act, walk and talk as a member and citizen 
of the Heavenlies. 

Ver. 4. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of 
the world, that we should be holy and without blemish (blame) 
before him in love. 

The Apostle is about to present seven great elements or 
truths concerning God’s part in our salvation. This verse gives 
the believer to understand that he was chosen by God in Christ 
before the foundation of the world. Paul means to say to us, 
that God, in laying His plans for the world, had then in His 
mind, the purpose of redeeming grace. The different dis¬ 
pensations presented to us in the Word of God were developed 
in different periods of the history of the world, but all of these 
had their purposes and plans before the foundation of the world. 
The Head of the Church, salvation through grace, the Church, 
the Body of Christ, and the believer, lie as deep as the creation 
itself. The provisions for these were eternal and the secret 
of them hidden and much of it never revealed unto this age 
of grace. There is nothing unprepared, nothing unforeseen in 
God’s dealings with mankind. His wisdom and knowledge are 
as deep as His grace is wide. 

The Apostle Paul tells us that he was but an agent in the 
hands of God to set out and make some of these plans plain 
to the human race: “It pleased God to set me apart from 
my mother’s womb to reveal His Son in me” (Gal. 1:15). 
The world is a system. It has a method and plan, therefore 
a foundation. Before the foundation there is a Founder whose 
purpose for all creation was that man might have a home. God 
had in his mind to redeem fallen humanity through the death 
of His own Son. He chose us that we might, through the call 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 33 


of His Son, be without blame before Him in love, just as a 
sacrifice would be without blemish. 

We are told in this verse that we are chosen—chosen of 
God, chosen in His Son. If we want to prove to the world 
that God has chosen us, we must be willing to be brought under 
His redemptive blood, die unto the world and rise with Christ. 

Ver. 5. Having foreordained (predestinated) us unto adoption 
as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good 
pleasure of His will. 

The previous verse tells us that we are blameless before 
Him in love. Now in this love he predestinated us and even 
all this was before the foundation of the world. This is the 
effective exercise of the will of God by which things before 
determined by Him are brought to pass. He does not only 
predestinate, but He does bring to pass the very thing He 
plans and foreknows. 

Paul, in writing to the Romans, says (8: 30), “Whom he did 
predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them 
he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” 
He predestinated us that we might secure His sonship. It is 
through God’s own choice and by the determination of His 
mighty will, that this choice is put into operation and takes 
effect. He has determined seasons and appointed bounds to 
human habitation. God foresees everything and allows for 
everything. As God’s ways justify themselves in part, so they 
do universally. Our little spark of intelligence glances upon 
one spot in a boundless ocean of unmeasurable depth. 

God’s sons must be holy and holy men are His sons. For 
this end we were elected of God before the beginning. With this 
very end in view the world was founded and the human race 
came into being. Now in the age of grace, the Church is being 
formed, and is to be presented at last faultless before the pres¬ 
ence of His glory with exceeding joy. In the fourth verse we 
were chosen by God; in the fifth verse we were adopted. We 
belong to His immediate family. This was all in the mind of 
God before the foundation of the world. 


Vol. 3—3 


34 


EPHESIANS 


Ver. 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, which he 
freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

The object of the praise in this verse is the glory, but not 
glory in Himself or God’s glory, but in His grace that through 
this grace, praise may accrue unto His free manifestation of 
the glorious nature of this grace of adoption, which He freely 
bestowed upon us, as set forth in the previous verse. Think 
of it, we are accepted as His beloved ones. We must indeed 
be loved or we would not be known as adopted children. We 
could not be adopted into the family of God if our relation¬ 
ship was not right with the First-born (Heb. 12:23), and so we 
must acknowledge that in His call we are called, and in His own 
beloved Son, we through Him become beloved. Our acceptance 
is through His acceptance. 

The Apostle in the last three verses has been using the 
pronoun “us.” The Apostle must be thinking of individuals 
who are included in the term “us” as recipients of saving grace. 
It may refer to individuals who have been in the mind of Christ 
from before the foundation of the world, but more likely the 
“us” refers to the collective family of God as the object of his 
loving ordination, the Body of Christians who are called out 
and made one new Man. 

Ver. 7. In whom we have our redemption through His blood, 
the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His 
grace. 

The redemption that is in Christ Jesus, the Apostle Paul 
declares to the Church at Rome to be the means by which we 
are acquitted in the judgment of God, from the guilt of all past 
transgressions, and this redemption has been brought about 
through the shedding of the blood of the Son of God, the sacri¬ 
fice wherein we are included and accepted through faith. The 
Apostle shows us clearly here how our redemption is secured. 
There are not many ways, but only one way. Christ says, “I 
am the way, the truth, and the life.” All the writers of the 
New Testament point to that one way which is faith in a person 
who has set us free by His own sacrifice. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 35 


In the time of Christ the Jews were trying to find some 
other way and when Christ did show them the way they would 
not receive Him. In every period of the Church, there are 
leaders who are not satisfied to take the way of Christ, the 
Apostle, and the teaching of the Word of God, but try to find 
some way more suitable to the human race. Some say we must 
have a new religion, we must have a new Bible. Leaders of 
this new method have selected from the Bible the parts that 
would be more in harmony with their new religion. The 
shorter Old Testament and the shorter New Testament, if now 
adopted, would in a hundred years have to be revised again, 
and in the course of time, the Bible would be eliminated 
entirely from the religion wanted by the human race. The 
claim is that we must suit the Bible to our times instead of 
suiting the times to the Bible. 

The Apostle Paul teaches us that there is no redemption 
except through the blood of Christ. There is no forgiveness 
of our transgressions except through the blood of Christ. All 
this, the Apostle says, is according to the riches of His grace. 
Are we ready to accept God’s riches, and to enjoy His favor 
by accepting His Son as our Saviour and be washed in His 
blood ? 

The belief in the world today is that God is too merciful 
to deal with humanity in harmony with His Holy Word, but 
we must learn that we have not a God who is more merciful 
than the God of our fathers, nor a God who is less righteous. 
He is a God who is righteous and He does hate sin and trans¬ 
gression. If He did not, He would have never given His Son 
to die that we might be free from sin and transgression and 
come into peace with Him through His Son. Why should we 
not, in this age of civilization and education, believe in the 
inspired Word of God ? We are living in an age of great unrest 
and great awakening, but all this can only be settled and satisfied 
by a knowledge of Him and obedience to Him who rules and 
overrules all. Think of a God that would allow His Son to 
go to the Cross to save the souls of men from sin and death. 


36 


EPHESIANS 


and not in some way revenge himself upon those who crucified 
Him and now still live in opposition to the things that God 
has done to save them. 

Ver. 8. Which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom 
and prudence. 

These two words, “wisdom and prudence,” breathe the 
highest intellectual and moral wisdom. Both are elsewhere in 
the Scripture predicated of God with reference to the creation. 
His grace to flow abundantly in us is the gift of all wisdom 
and prudence. Our safeguard against intellectual perils, lies 
not in ignorance, but in deep heart knowledge. 

Ver. 9. Making known unto us the mystery of his will, 
according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him. 

The Apostle expresses the same thought used in some of 
the former verses. He speaks not only of himself but of all 
who had received the adoption in Christ. He says, “Having 
made known unto us.” Through wisdom or prudence we are 
permitted to know the mystery of His will. All whom God 
has called in his Son can be exalted into fellowship with God 
in His future purposes. Wisdom and prudence must lie in 
the knowledge of God’s will, which He declared to be a mys¬ 
tery. It is this secret which is revealed unto the Apostle Paul, 
henceforth no longer a secret to the regenerated and redeemed. 
God has kept in Christ the secret, until the proper time for its 
revelation which he purposes in Himself. God’s plan is clearly 
worked out in His own mind. Just as the building to be erected 
is clear in the mind of the architect before the building is begun, 
so this entire plan of God was clear to Him before it was made 
known and revealed in the different dispensations represented 
in the Word of God. 

“Which He purposed in Him:” that is, in His Son. The 
purpose of the Father was in the Son, to make Him the Head 
over all, and the mystery is concerning the Body that was to be 
formed out of Jews and Gentiles and made one new man— 
these are the great purposes of God. It is a great privilege and 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 37 


blessing to be granted the opportunity of fellowship with God 
through His Son in the great things that He has to accomplish 
to complete His purposes. All the regenerated who have their 
standing in the Head are numbered among those who are en¬ 
joying this special fellowship with God and His Son concerning 
the future purposes. 

Ver. 10. Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to 
sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the 
things upon the earth; in him. 

The Apostle means to say that in harmony with the Divine 
plan, God has purposed in Himself to gather together into 
One (that is, in His own Son) all things. Those who are 
acquainted with the human family know how scattered man¬ 
kind is and that it has no head under which its members may 
organize themselves. We are informed here by Scripture that 
God has a purpose and a plan that in the course of time, known 
to Himself, He will have one Head to be known as the King 
of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Saviour is the one to appear 
in the fulness of time and His Body will then be gathered 
together. 

Heaven and earth have become places of sin (6:12). 
Heaven is known to be the first place of rebellion. Part of the 
angels on account of disobedience, fell from Heaven and the 
presence of God (2 Pet. 2:4). Then these fallen beings began 
to do their work of sin and death. This opposition against God 
continued in the Heavenlies. Satan has had his way in the 
human family since man began to disobey God, which has re¬ 
sulted in sin and death. We are working towards a New 
Heaven and a New Earth wherein dwells righteousness. In 
the purpose and mind of God, this is the age of grace in which 
there is forming a new society, a new Head, and a new Body, 
to dwell in this New Heaven and New Earth. 

Ver. 11. In whom also we were made a heritage, having been 
foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all 
things after the counsel of his will. 


38 


EPHESIANS 


In this verse we have the conclusion of what was said in 
the former verse regarding the gathering together of all things 
in Heaven and upon the earth in Christ, in whom we obtain 
our inheritance. This inheritance is according to the purpose 
of God, “who worketh all things after the council of His own 
will.” We have been chosen by God, predestinated, accepted, 
adopted, received into fellowship with Him, and here, partici¬ 
pate in an inheritance bought through the sacrifice and death 
of the Son of God. Christ is Himself the believer’s wealth, 
both in possession and hope. This inheritance is incorruptible 
and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for 
us (1 Pet. 1:4), 

We are told here that it is after the council of His will and 
that the purposes of God’s will were before the foundation of 
the world. After the creation of the world there was a council 
no doubt by the members of the Trinity, when it was said, “Let 
us make man in our image.” 

The Apostle having spoken of the inheritance in the eleventh 
verse, is now trying to bring us across the border that separates 
the present and the future that we might dwell upon the gifts 
which God will bestow upon those who are faithful to Him 
and thus present to us the greatest possible incentive to Chris¬ 
tian service. 

Ver. 12. To the end that we should be unto the praise of 
His glory, we who had before hoped in Christ. 

This is the final purpose with which believers in Christ 
are permitted to hope and receive the earnest of the sacred 
inheritance. “That we should be unto the praise of His glory,” 
both we who have long since this hoped in Christ, and those 
who became believers as soon as they heard of the Word of 
Truth. The good news of our salvation and the sealing with 
that Holy Spirit of promise was made known, which is the 
“earnest of our inheritance.” 

Paul in these verses offers a subject of supreme interest to 
himself and the Gentiles, who are by faith in Jesus, united with 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 


39 


Spiritual Israel. The thought of the heirship of believers and 
of God’s previous council respecting it, brought before his mind 
the distinction between Jew and Gentile and the part assigned 
to each in the Divine plan, therefore, he says, “That we might 
be to the praise of His glory. The Messianic hope, in its ful¬ 
filment is yours (Gentiles) as much as ours.” 

Ver. 13. In whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, 
the Gospel of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, ye 
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. 

“In whom ye also (as Gentiles)” as contrasted with “we,” 
Paul’s Jewish brethren. It may be possible that he refers first 
to “we,” the Jewish nation, which by faith looked forward for 
this hope in Christ, and the “ye” who are afterwards brought 
in. These are the old and new believers, or the Jews and 
the Gentiles. The Word of Truth, the Gospel of salvation was 
proclaimed to these people. They accepted it and were saved. 
They are the people who believed God’s Word, had faith in 
Jesus Christ, and as such have Heaven’s seal, the seal given by 
the Holy Spirit. 

When Christ was on the way to Transfiguration He asked 
His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 
After hearing the opinion of others, Christ asked His disciples 
to give the answer. Peter gave the answer that satisfied the 
Master, who then said, “Upon this truth will I build my church 
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” He also 
said unto Peter, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto 
you, but my Father which is in Heaven.” He means to say 
to Peter, “If you are so in communion with the Father and 
receive such revelation, it will be safe for me to give unto you 
the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” 

It was on the day of Pentecost that the first opportunity 
presented itself to use the keys that Christ had given him. He 
used these keys to open to his own nation the door of hope. 
Three thousand were added unto the believers when the Holy 
Spirit came from Heaven on the day of Pentecost to possess, 
guide, and give power to the disciples of Christ. Peter again 


40 


EPHESIANS 


had opportunity to use the key to open the door of hope unto 
the Gentiles at Caesarea when Cornelius and his household 
were admitted into the church on the same terms with the Jews. 

In this verse, all who are regenerated are sealed with the 
Holy Spirit. This means that Jews and Gentiles who have 
believed through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and have been 
received into fellowship with Christ, are sealed by the Holy 
Spirit of promise and have Heavenly authority for their pro¬ 
tection. Those who are sealed are under one guide and are of 
one mind and Spirit with Christ. 

Ver. 14. Which is an earnest (pledge) of our inheritance, 
unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of 
His glory. 

Believers receive the certainty that they are heirs and have 
an inheritance in eternity, not through an assurance from with¬ 
out, but through the teaching of this Holy Spirit by whom they 
are sealed. The earnest is the seal and something more. This 
seal by the Holy Spirit is contrasted with the natural seal of 
circumcision in the flesh which marked the children of the old 
covenant from Abraham downward, previous to the fulfilment 
of the promise (Gal. 2:12-14). We bear this in the inmost 
part of our nature where we are nearest to God. V/e are sealed 
by the Spirit as sons. A seal is a token of proprietorship put 
by the owner upon his property. 

“Unto the redemption.” The saints already have a redemp¬ 
tion, in the radical sense of acceptance—rescued from con¬ 
demnation through sonship—but they still look forward to a 
redemption that will take away the limits that are now upon 
them through the physical body when they shall come in posses¬ 
sion of the glorified body. 

“The purchased possession.” This is God’s own possession. 
We become God’s own personal property. This is the Church, 
the New Man, the Israel of God. It is the property of God 
for His eternal use and purpose. We who are God’s wealth 
and God’s purchased possession do not wait in ignorance as to 
what the Father purposed in us as to our future state, because 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 41 


through the Holy Spirit, life and immortality has been brought 
to light. It is indeed a great privilege to know what God has 
done for us in making us His wealth and His inheritance. 

This verse contains some of the most profound truths for 
minds to think upon and hearts to ponder: (1) God has chosen 
us, (2) Predestinated us, (3) Accepted us, (4) Redeemed us— 
made us His Sons, (5) Brought us into fellowship with Him, 
(6) Gave us an inheritance, (7) Sealed us by the Holy Spirit 
of promisfe. These are the seven great signs of the believers’ 
present possession received from God through Christ. 

QUESTIONS 

What is the key verse of this Epistle? 

Where was Paul when he wrote this Epistle? 

Why is it necessary for the Christian to dwell in the Heaven- 

lies? 

In what sense are we moved into an advanced class as we 
take up the study of this Epistle? 

From whom do we get redemption? 

What privilege does the Christian enjoy as to the mystery? 
(Ver. 9.) 

What was it that God purposed in Himself? 

Explain the unity presented in Ver. 10. 

Why do Church members not have the conviction enjoyed by 
the early Christians? (Ver. 13.) 

If the inheritance is as expressed here, why are Christians 
not more concerned about it? 

3. PRAYER FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF BE¬ 
LIEVERS RESPECTING GOD’S PART OF 
OUR SALVATION, 1:15-23 

There are two great purposes of God set out by the Holy 
Spirit in this important Church letter. We have learned (1:3) 
that the will of God is the source of all our blessings, and that 
the foundation of all blessings is in the purpose of God Him¬ 
self. The work of Christ is the channel through which these 
blessings come to us. The witness of the Holy Spirit is the 
power of its manifestations. It is through this inexhaustible 


42 


EPHESIANS 


grace of God that we come into these privileges and blessings 
enumerated by the Apostle Paul. Now the eternal purpose 
which He purposed in Christ is the mystery or secret of His 
will (1:9), which is here made known. It is made known as 
far as possible by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul, 
taking us unto a Throne of grace and there pleading with 
God that this secret or revelation might be made clear unto 
all believers. The prayer here will have very little meaning to 
the believer in whose interest it is offered unless he enters 
into the study through the Holy Spirit of God’s special pur¬ 
pose for him. 

We have before stated that in this book there are two great 
purposes and each of these purposes is followed with a prayer. 
The first purpose and prayer is as we have it in this chapter, 
and the second purpose of God in Christ Jesus concerning His 
Son (3:1-12), is followed by the prayer of 3:14-19. 

The purpose of God was two-fold as presented in the first 
and third chapters. God’s great purpose from the beginning 
was concerning Himself personally and, therefore, He made 
Christ the Head over all things. All things in Heaven and 
earth are ultimately to be under the direction of the Lord Jesus 
Christ (Ver. 10). Now in the third chapter we have presented 
the secret of the purpose of God which is revealed in this age 
of grace concerning the Church as the spiritual Body of Christ 
and the members of that Body made one in Him. Let the 
student realize that there are great blessings in store for all 
who can enter into communion with God through this prayer, 
and God is ready to answer the things asked for by all who 
are worthy of His confidence and trust. 

Ver. 15. For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the 
Lord Jesus which is among you, and which ye shew toward all the 
saints. 

This verse shows that Paul had confidence in those to whom 
he was writing. This he also shows in the former verse when 
he says, “Ye believe.” Because of this interest in their salva- 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 


43 


tion and in order to further comprehend the beauties and 
glories that God has for all who are willing to pay the price, 
he goes through the channel of prayer to the source where 
these can be obtained. The Holy Spirit has already led the 
Apostle into the great truths that we have studied, and now, 
all who are members of the Body of Christ, are to be led more 
fully into that union by the comprehension of the blessings 
enumerated before. 

God before the foundation of the world chose us, pre¬ 
destinated us, accepted us, redeemed us, unveiled the mystery 
unto us, and made us partakers in the inheritance, and sealed 
us by Heaven’s authority. These are the great needs for all 
believers in Christ and, therefore, the Apostle and all true 
members of the body of Christ, pray for wisdom and enlighten¬ 
ment. 

Ver. 16. Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention 
of you in my prayers. 

Paul gives thanks to God for all who come in possession 
of and study this great letter of his on Church doctrine. It 
is this company of believers whose faith is proclaimed through¬ 
out the whole world. In this way Paul’s love goes from church 
to church to unite the bonds of faith between land and land. 
This is a general church letter that is passed from church to 
church and through a careful study of such purposes of God 
and prayers that are offered, religious belief will be harmonized, 
the power of God will be manifested and souls will be won 
into the Body of Christ. 

As we continue to study this prayer we discover that the 
great subject is power—that surpassing power of God in carry¬ 
ing out His purposes in sending Christ to be the Head of the 
Body and over all things for the Body. 

Ver. 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in 
the knowledge of him. 

Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the 


44 


EPHESIANS 


Father (Rom. 6:4). Here the Apostle is speaking of the 
Incarnate One, the God Man, to whom God is God, the Father 
full of glory. We are in Christ, we have our standing in Christ, 
our possession is secured in the Head, and this is really the 
subject of this first prayer. We are united with Paul that the 
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might 
enable us to see what has been set out in the former paragraph 
by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. We already know in 
part something concerning our privileges in the Head, but we 
want to get a little deeper experience and this still clearer vision 
concerning the special blessings and privileges that are ours in 
this age of grace concerning a full knowledge (Epegnosis) of 
Him. In coming in possession of the gifts asked for in this 
prayer, we will be able to advance from truth to truth and 
from knowledge to knowledge. This is all beyond what man 
himself can reason and think out. The things that Paul asks 
for here can only be received by those who have accepted Jesus 
Christ through faith and stand justified, therefore, before God 
to become worthy of further wisdom and revelation. 

We know Christ as our Saviour who saves us, however we 
realize that we are not as fully and completely abiding in His 
personality as we should be, and, therefore, we long for a - 
fuller knowledge of Him that we may enter more fully into 
this mystery and purpose of God in order to enjoy these higher 
blessings offered us here through this prayer. 

Ver. 18. Having the eyes of your heart (understanding) en¬ 
lightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, 
what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. 

He prays that through this revealed knowledge his hearers 
may have their eyes enlightened to see the grandeur and wealth 
of their religion. It is a vision disclosed not to the physical 
eyes, but to the eye of the heart, which is the true discerner. 
There may be two men seated side by side in the same house 
of prayer and at the same gate of Heaven. The one sees 
Heaven opened. He has the pleasure of hearing the eternal 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 45 


song in the Spirit and the temple is filled with the glory of 
God. The other hears the same praise, but in a different aspect 
of the first worshiper. He may hear the music of the organ, 
and hear the voice of the preacher, but as to anything beyond, 
he feels no music and drawing from another world. It is no 
more to him than mere exercise of worship and the music 
appealing to the outside of life. 

Those who obey God’s will will have their hearts opened 
and God daily manifests His love and greatness and the heart 
responds and breathes out the same attributes received from 
God. Other hearts do not respond. By not responding to the 
influences of the eternal they become hardened, their life is of 
less value and the world is no better for their having passed 
through it. 

“That ye may know what is the hope of His calling.” This 
is a very important petition in this prayer. We have asked 
for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of 
Him. We are all the time in need of this wisdom and revelation 
in which things of God and the eternal things of interest to the 
heart are made more clear, and they are not withheld from any 
who will each day come into greater possession of the know¬ 
ledge of Him. Then, with all these blessings, we must be able 
to know and to comprehend something concerning the hope of 
His calling. It is knowledge in Him, it is knowledge in His 
calling, it is knowledge in His inheritance in the saints, and we 
need knowledge of His power to usward who believe. 

What is the hope of His calling? This calling was before 
the foundation of the world and we are here, not so much con¬ 
cerned about our calling as His calling, because in His calling 
is our calling. He was called according to the eternal pur¬ 
pose of God from before the foundation of the world and, 
therefore, while we live in this age of grace, yet our calling 
is before the foundation of the world, because in His calling 
we are included. Think of it! We have hope in our Re¬ 
deemer’s calling. If we follow the hope of His calling we 
are always praying that we may know something of the riches 


46 


EPHESIANS 


of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. His calling in¬ 
cluded our calling; His inheritance included our inheritance; 
His wealth in the saints made our spiritual wealth secure 
before the foundation of the world. God’s inheritance in the 
saints here is that which makes Him rich. Christ’s death gave 
Him a right to the inheritance. Our death in Him gives us 
a right to share His inheritance. This inheritance is God’s 
habitation. He is building for Himself through the Head, 
Christ, and the Body, a dwelling place. God sets great store 
by us, His children, and counts Himself rich in our affections 
and our service. How deeply it ought to effect us to know 
that God’s inheritance is in the saints and His possession in 
believing men. It is true that God spared not His own Son 
for our salvation, and now He has sealed us with the Holy 
Spirit. He did all this before the foundation of the world 
that we might be His saints, and He must set upon these saints 
an infinite value. The saints that were and are in the earth 
are earth’s riches. 

Ver. 19. And what the exceeding (surpassing) greatness of 
His power to usward who believe, according to that working 
(energy) of the strength of his might. 

The exceeding greatness of this power is a worthy object 
of a profound insight to those who believe. It is only those 
who admit and consent to these conditions set out by the 
Apostle in the Scripture who can be counted of real value to 
God and numbered with His inheritance. 

Paul is praying here concerning this mighty power of God 
and that the saints might have great knowledge concerning 
God as to eternal life, future inheritance and specifically and 
definitely about God’s power. This no doubt refers to the 
power that God manifested in raising Christ from the dead. 
The same or similar power, according to the teaching of the 
Word (2: 5), He exercised upon us in raising us up who were 
dead in trespasses and sin. 

Ver. 20. Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 47 


from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly 
places. 

Christ was raised; we were raised. This ought to give us 
a new insight into the value of our standing in Jesus. You 
are not in Christ Jesus through that which is natural, but 
supernatural. Just as God’s mighty power was required to 
lift the body that was put to death on the cross out of the 
tomb that was sealed by the Roman Government, so God’s 
mighty power was exercised when we were dead in trespasses 
and sins in lifting us out of sin and death. If Christ’s rising 
from the dead was miraculous, our rising from the dead was 
miraculous and thus through our union with Christ we have 
eternal life. 

God not only used His power in raising His Son from 
the dead and in raising all the members of the Body from the 
dead, but He also set His Son at His own right hand in the 
Heavenlies, and since Christ our Redeemer has gone back unto 
the Father and is a citizen of the Heavenlies, then we who are 
in Christ, raised from the dead, are also, by the power of God, 
seated with His Son in the Heavenlies (2:6). 

Ver. 21. Far above all rule (principality), and authority, and 
power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in 
this world (age), but also in that which is to come. 

Two thoughts are conveyed: First, subordinate^, the exis¬ 
tence of orders and authorities in the angelic (as well as the 
human) world. Then primarily, the imperial and absolute 
headship of the Son over them all. The additional thought is 
given (as by Col. 1:16) that He was also, in His preexistent 
glory, their Creator, but this is not in definite view here where 
He appears altogether as the exalted Son of Man after death. 
He was exalted above all the Heavenly beings and there seated 
by God at His own right hand. Our Risen One now abides 
in the Heavenlies. Christ was seen of His Apostles forty days 
after He had risen, and when He ascended they stood gazing 
up into Heaven and were told by Heavenly messenger that 
he would return again (Acts 1:11). Paul’s faith saw the 


48 


EPHESIANS 


risen Christ as passing through and beyond successive ranks 
of angelic powers until there was in Heaven no grandeur which 
He had not left behind. Christ is the founder of this new 
creation, this new society of which He is the Head, and as He 
rules, all are interested in Him as the ruler of the Body with 
thrones and princedoms beneath His feet. Christ is given to 
the Church, the Head over all things, the Lord of the created 
universe, therefore He is no longer subject to any rule, or any 
principality, or any power or might, being supreme over all 
powers that be. In the closing up of this age and the age 
to come, all authority will be in His hand. 

Ver. 22. And he put all things in subjection under his feet, 
and gave him to be head over all things to the church. 

We have the Christ exalted to universal authority. God 
made Him Head over all things as He is of the Church. 

Ver. 23. Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all 
in all. 

The prayer invites us to participate and enjoy the fellow¬ 
ship in the heights of His glory. He is the Head of the Church, 
His Body. No matter where Christ is, we are in Him and He 
in us. Christ prayed on the night before He was crucified, “O 
Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory 
which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17 : 5). 

We have studied this prayer. We can only get from the 
prayer our own needs by allowing the Holy Spirit to pray this 
prayer for us. In this way we come into possession of the 
knowledge of Him and fully understand the greatness of His 
power to usward who believe. Our Saviour’s brow, once 
crowned with thorns, now wears the diadem of universal sover¬ 
eignty and that hand once nailed to the cross now holds the 
scepter of unlimited power. He who once was bleeding on the 
cross and lay in the tomb, has ascended to His Father’s throne. 
He is to be above all and to have all His enemies put under 
His feet (1 Cor. 15:25). He whom the world crucified—the 
second Adam—has become worthy through death, resurrection, 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 49 


ascension, and dominion to receive from His Father’s hand the 
seal which no one can break. Adam, through sin and death, 
lost the inheritance of the world and Christ, through death, 
resurrection, ascension, and dominion is made worthy and re¬ 
ceives from His Father’s hand the inheritance forfeited by the 
first Adam. All who are in Christ are made worthy to partici¬ 
pate in this inheritance because of His sacrifice and our faith 
in Him. 


QUESTIONS 

What reason had Paul for giving thanks? (Ver. 15.) 

What did Paul think these Christians needed? (Ver. 17.) 

What gifts may be obtained through prayer? (Ver. 17.) 

If we have wisdom and revelation, whom may we know better? 

Why do we need to be enlightened? 

Whose calling is referred to in Ver. 18? 

What was God’s real inheritance? 

Who raised Christ from the dead? 

Are you alive in Christ through God’s power? 

Where is Christ since His ascension? 

Over what has He dominion? 

Of what is He the head? 

II. Ourselves as Christians, the Objects of God’s 
Purposes and Paul’s Prayers, 2:1-22 

After the Apostle made his petition for enlightenment re¬ 
specting the glory purposed from eternity and already begin¬ 
ning, and God calling out of this purpose His Church to Christ, 
the Body of which He is the Head, in such a manner as pre¬ 
sented in the conclusion of the first chapter (1:23), he again 
turns to his readers to notice the mighty working of the Father 
in bringing those who make up the Body of Christ, through 
death and resurrection, into membership of the Body, His 
Church. First of all he is moved by a glance at the similar 
condition of death in the case of the Gentiles and of the Jews, 
and then by the thought of God, who out of mercy has quickened 
and blessed the wretched—the transgressor, with and through 

Vol. 3—4 


50 


EPHESIANS 


Christ. This chapter is put in between the two great purposes 
and the two great prayers which indicate that the believers, 
the members of the Body of Christ, are really the object of the 
purposes and prayers. 

1. FROM DEATH TO LIFE, 2:1-6 

In the first chapter we have been looking at the purpose 
that God has in Himself concerning Christ personal. We were 
shown clearly what God did to establish a Head and what He 
did that we might have our standing in this Head and dwell 
with Him in the Heavenlies. In these verses our attention is 
called to the mighty working of God through Christ in believ¬ 
ing men. The chapter begins with men in sin and under the 
dominion of the ruler who destroys. The chapter closes with 
a complete change, and those who were on the road to destruc¬ 
tion and death have become regenerated, secured a position in 
the Head, Christ, and have become material in the building 
that God has for His own habitation. 

Ver. 1. And you did he make alive, when ye were dead 
through your trespasses and sins. 

In the former paragraph (1:20) we learned that Jesus 
Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God, so by 
the power of God we are instructed here, that the believer is 
raised from the death of sin and becomes the adopted son of 
God. The believer will realize a great help in knowing his true 
position in Christ when he begins to appreciate just how he was 
quickened and how he was raised. The Christian is in the 
world because of the miraculous power of God. The same 
powerful hand that was laid upon the body of the dead Christ 
and raised Him from Joseph’s tomb to the highest seat in 
Heaven, was laid upon your soul when you were in sin and 
death; you have been quickened and raised and already enjoy 
a foretaste of what it is to dwell with Christ in the Heavenlies. 

All those making up the Body of Christ were, at one time, 
under the dominion of sin and death. God found these under 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 


51 


the power and dominion of Satan and quickened (regenerated) 
them. The next two verses describe what is meant by sin and 
death. 

Ver. 2. Wherein aforetime ye walked according to the course 
of this world (age), according to the prince of the power (ruler 
of authority) of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons 
(children) of disobedience. 

Jesus Christ came into a world under the dominion of sin 
and death. He was the one man alive in body, soul, and spirit, 
alive to God in this world and not according to the course of 
this age, according to the principles of the present period of 
existence in which fallen man is living, or according to the 
prince of the power of the air. Satan is the evil spirit and 
the evil person who now prevails. He is the head of wicked 
man and holds dominion over him. He is the ruler of evil 
spirits whose empire is in the air, ruling in the hearts of men 
who dwell upon the earth, and his spiritual forces are described 
in the closing chapter of this book (6:12). These evil spirits 
were cast down from Heaven and have not yet been consigned 
to the lower regions. They have their empire in this lower air. 
These same spirits are still at work in the children of dis¬ 
obedience. 

All the regenerate who are made so secure and dwelling 
in the Heavenlies, as described in the former chapter, at one 
time walked as those now walk who are under the wrath of 
God. ‘This age”—this present sinful order of things as char¬ 
acterized by discord with the will of God. Think of the many 
walking dead ones, standing in the relation of slaves in Satan’s 
Kingdom, who remain in the depth of misery and death as long 
as they are without help from above. They have in Satan a 
prince who works and rules in opposition to Christ, the Head 
of the Church. There is a strong prejudice in our time 
against the recognition of Satan’s personality. To the Lord 
and to the Early Church he was surely no mere personification 
of evil, but an evil personality. 


52 


EPHESIANS 


Ver. 3. Among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of 
our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were 
by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 

Paul includes himself among his fellow believers who were 
at one time dead in trespasses and sin. They were known at 
one time as children of disobedience, whether Jew or Gentile, 
until the day in which they were adopted into the family of 
God. They fulfilled at one time the desires of the flesh, and 
of the mind. The impulses and wishes of the unregenerate 
mind have the nature of sin as much as those of the flesh, 
however much they differ in respect to refinement. Pride and 
malice belong to the unregenerate state of death as much as 
sensual indulgences. 

He speaks of those who were by nature the children of 
wrath. This is the direct statement of the doctrine of original 
sin. Men are sinful and therefore are under the wrath of God 
(Rom. 1:18). Every man is either under the righteousness 
of God or under the wrath of God. What is the Divine wrath? 
Not arbitrary or intemperate passion in the Eternal, but the 
antagonism of the Eternal holiness to sin. “The forgetfulness 
of the present age of the doctrine of the wrath of God has 
exercised a baneful influence on the various relations in which 
man holds the place of God, and especially on the government 
of the family and of the state/’ We have either the nature of 
Christ or the nature of Satan. That which provokes the wrath 
of God is not only in the individual but in the race and in the 
nature. A greater mystery we cannot state, but neither could 
we name a surer fact. The very nature of man is faulty and 
corrupt since the fall of man. 

Ver. 4. But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love 
wherewith He loved us. 

These words refer back to 2:1 and that verse is connected 
with 1:20. God is rich in mercy. This is the ultimate motive 
of the work of regeneration. It is simply the Divine mercy. 
No claim or obligation is in the question, nor right inherent in 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 


53 


the alienated race, nor fitness of things in the abstract; only the 
uncalled and supremely free choice of the God of mercy. 

We have a number of illustrations in the Bible concerning 
the miraculous power of God. We read about the resurrection 
of Jarius’ daughter coming from death unto life and able to 
look upon the face of her deliverer. Lazarus who was dead 
four days comes forth out of his tomb. It is more miraculous 
to read and know about the Prince of Life, the Christ, coming 
from Joseph’s grave, going forth into new risen glory. These 
have been refreshed from slumber; however, there are things 
no less Divine which take place upon this earth day by day. 
Human souls are awakened from trespasses and sins when the 
love of God is poured into the heart that was cold and empty. 
The Spirit of God breathes life into a spirit lying powerless and 
buried in the flesh. Through the power of God this is as true 
a rising from the dead as when Jesus, our Lord, came from his 
sepulcher. We are delivered. God and the soul have met in 
Christ and are reconciled. The examples given to us in the 
Word of God of all who were miraculously healed, raised from 
death unto life, brought out of sin and trespasses into the 
glorious presence of God, compel us to cry out, “God is love 
and rich in mercy.” 

Ver. 5. Even when we were dead through our trespasses, 
made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved). 

The Apostle said in the first verse, “You hath He quick¬ 
ened,” and in this verse says, “Even when we were dead in 
sins.” He means to say, “you” and “we” and if he refers to 
different nations, then he emphasizes the same truth he had 
taught in the Book of Romans, that all have sinned, Jews and 
Gentiles, and come short of the glory of God. 

The Apostle teaches us that all are included in God’s love 
and God’s riches. The individual Jew and the individual 
Gentile are quickened together, made One new Man in Christ. 
They come into fellowship with the Risen One. The spiritual 
life in this world is imparted to us because we are sealed Chris- 


54 


EPHESIANS 


tians by the power of God. The Holy Spirit will not allow 
us to get away from the fact that we are saved by grace. 
Nothing that we can do within ourselves makes us worthy of 
salvation. We are not allowed to base our salvation on any¬ 
thing we can do. The Holy Spirit is positive and definite con¬ 
cerning the method of salvation and so has presented it in the 
Book of Romans. It is through God’s love and God’s riches 
that we are sealed and our hope is confirmed by the infallible 
Word of Truth. This dismisses all thought of claim and merit 
on the part of man. We are saved through faith in Christ and 
that faith is a gift of God. 

Ver. 6. And raised us up with him, and made us to sit with 
him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. 

The Apostle tells us in the sixth chapter of Romans that 
we are planted together, and if we are planted together with 
Christ, then we are raised up together, and if we are now 
planted together and raised together, then we are instructed 
by the Holy Spirit that nothing can separate us. We must 
then be with Christ wherever He is, and since we are instructed 
here that He is in the Heavenlies, we must be seated with Him 
in the Heavenlies. Our union is with Christ in His celestial 
life and our union with each other in Christ as members of 
His Body makes us sharers in common of that life. Christ, 
therefore, reconciles us in one Body unto God. Then we do not 
sit alone, but we sit together in Heavenly places. Here we 
have the expression of fulness of life, completeness of salva¬ 
tion, and hope of glorification. 

QUESTIONS 

Why say, “and you did he quicken”? 

What was the condition of all Christians at one time? 

Who is the Prince of the power of the air? 

What shows God’s great love? 

How are we saved? 

What is the Christian’s great privilege as a member of the 
body of Christ? (Ver. 6.) 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 55 


2. WE ARE SAVED FOR A PURPOSE, 2:7-10 

God’s purposes and Paul’s prayers are specific and definite. 
They help us to understand God’s side of salvation and the 
attainment man may reach through answered prayer. We 
learned in the last paragraph that Jew and Gentile, through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, can sit together in Heavenly 
places. Only Christians can reach this exalted relationship, 
secured in this age and perpetuated in the age to come. This 
is all brought about through the surpassing riches of His 
grace. God’s mercy and the riches of His grace make it 
possible for unregenerate Jew and Gentile to be transformed 
and regenerated, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, obtain¬ 
ing a righteousness unknown to all who live the unregenerated 
life. 

Ver. 7. That in the ages to come he might show the exceed¬ 
ing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 

All the races of mankind in all future ages are embraced 
in the redeeming purpose and are invited to share in its bound¬ 
less wealth. The highway of this new life has been in building 
since time began. This redeeming purpose to bring about this 
boundless wealth was thought out before the beginning of time, 
as we learned (from 1:4). We see how boundless and how 
limitless is the range of purpose and grace given us in Christ 
Jesus before time began. These exceeding riches of His grace 
accomplish such wonderful results, as pictured here in this 
chapter. This is set over against the wrath of God and the 
power of Satan. We are assured of the triumphant, superior 
power. 

Twice the Apostle has exclaimed, “By grace ye are saved.” 
In the first verse of this chapter the Apostle speaks of the con¬ 
dition of his readers while in their unregenerated state and cries 
out (Ver. 5), “By grace ye were saved.” He repeats this in 
the same language, after calling his reader’s attention to the 
fact that they were not saved by works and therefore they had 
no reason for boasting, but it is by grace, through faith in the 


56 


EPHESIANS 


Lord Jesus Christ, that they were brought into favor with 
God (Ver. 8). 

We are here on very familiar ground after having studied 
Paul’s emphasis on faith in the Book of Romans, and now the 
Apostle emphasizes the riches of God’s grace to these Ephesian 
brethren. It is “His” grace and “His” kindness towards us 
through Jesus Christ. These exceeding riches of His grace are 
shown to us in the gifts of God. The character of God is 
presented in the Gospel under the most delightful aspect. It is 
God’s mercy or kindness which is expressed in His Divine 
pitifulness towards feeble, suffering men. The God of all the 
earth, who hates sin and transgression, is gentler than the 
softest hearted mother, rich in mercy as He is grand and 
terrible unto wrath. Grace and kindness are love’s executive. 
Christ is the embodiment of grace and the cross its supreme 
expression, the Gospel its message to mankind and Paul himself 
its trophy and witness. The Apostle sees future ages gazing 
with wonder at its beneficence to himself and his fellow be¬ 
lievers. God’s kindness is in the touch of His hand, the aspect 
of His voice, the cherished breath of His Spirit. It is the gift 
of Christ, the gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:15-18). In this 
age of grace God is preparing, through Christ as the Head 
over all things and the mystical Body, the Church, that which 
is His possession, and wealth, and building, by which He may 
show the occasion of this grace in all future ages. 

Ver. 8. For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and 
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 

The teaching of this great evangelical epistle is condensed 
in the brief verses of 8 and 9. The reason is here shown for 
God’s dealing to man by the way of gifts and making him the 
absolute debtor; “lest any man should boast.” This teaching 
is forced upon the Apostle’s mind by the stubborn principles 
of legalism. It is stated in terms of identity with those of his 
letter to the Romans. Men will glory in their virtues before 
God. They hold up the rags of their own righteousness, if any 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 57 


such they possess, even the slightest remnant of them. The 
sinners are a proud race and our pride is frequently the worst 
of our sins. He makes to us a free gift of His righteousness 
and excludes each contribution for our store of merit, for if 
we could supply anything, we would inevitably boast as though 
all were our own. 

“By grace are ye saved.” Not, “ye will be saved,” or “ye 
are in the course of salvation,” but Paul says, “By grace ye 
are saved.” We have redemption in His blood, the forgiveness 
of our trespasses. This is the Christian’s assurance. Christ 
Himself said, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath eternal 
life.” We know that we are in Him. We know that we have 
passed out of death into life. “This is the victory that over- 
cometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). 

The organizers and leaders in the early Church believed 
that they were in possession of a present salvation and this 
gave them conviction which made it possible for them to over¬ 
ride all evil and add constantly to their number and make the 
Christian foundation sure. Anyone with faith hesitant, dis¬ 
tracted, contaminated with doubt, cannot plant a firm foot any¬ 
where. Nothing can prosper in such a soul or in the organiza¬ 
tion to which he belongs. Oh, that we might come in possession 
of that clear accent, the ringing joyful note of Apostolic assur¬ 
ance ! We need a faith not born of sentiment, or human sym¬ 
pathy, but that which comes from the voice of the living God, 
a faith whose rock and cornerstone is not the Church, but the 
Christ, founded upon God’s own authority and in harmony with 
the inspired Word. 

Ver. 9. Not of works, that no man should glory. 

If man being guilty and being unable to win a pardon, 
simply receives it; if being dead he gains life only as a Divine 
endowment; if favor and nothing but favor has originated 
his safety, the only possible act on his part being that of recep¬ 
tion; if all this be true then surely there can be nothing farther 
from him than boasting, for He will glorify God for all things. 


58 


EPHESIANS 


When a man is helpless and undone, with neither means nor 
strength to change his condition, then if his condition be 
changed, it must come from that of another and it is entirely 
through favor so there is no occasion to boast. 

Ver. 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ 
Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should 
walk in them. 

The former verses expressed the Christian's assurance and 
now we have presented to us a part of the practical life of the 
person saved by the gift of grace. It is very comforting to 
live in this assurance, with the hideous evil of the world op¬ 
pressing us and the air laden with the contagion of sin, where 
the faith of the professing Christian wears a cast of doubt, 
where death we know is confronting us, where the Anti-Christ 
is more fully presenting himself, and where we can hear hun¬ 
dreds of voices saying in mockery and grief, “Where is now 
thy God?” This is a day for Christians to recover again their 
radiant strength and have their assurance reaffirmed by the 
living Word of this Epistle. 

We are the property of another. We are His workman¬ 
ship. Salvation, therefore, is not of works, for those who are 
saved are saved by the workmanship of another. We are the 
product of an artist, the chair of the carpenter, the jar of the 
potter. Man is but a mere creature of God, while it follows 
that any good thing that emanates from man really rises from 
God as the author. This is rather the re-creation than the 
original creation that is now used as a ground of argument. 
It is the new life to which the Christians are born and are 
sealed with the Holy Spirit, and are created unto good works. 
Paul is the last man in the world to undervalue, human effort 
or disparage human work of any member, only we must let 
this end be suited to God. Ours and other men’s doings must 
be the fruit and not the root of salvation. The Church had 
and must have an end in view that reaches beyond itself and 
is worthy of the founder, worthy of the magnitude of His 
plans and measureless love. God has thus prepared good works 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 59 


and with the design that we should walk in them as prepared 
before by God. These good works, although they do not secure 
salvation, are by God’s eternal purpose essentially conditional 
with it and must be done in harmony with His direction. 

QUESTIONS 

What age is referred to in Ver. 7? 

Tell us about the exceeding riches of His grace. 

What means are presented for salvation? 

What is the gift of God? 

What causes men to boast? 

How are we God’s workmanship? 

What is the purpose of service? 

3. THE GENTILES IN POSSESSION OF NEW 
NATURE THROUGH THE BLOOD 
OF CHRIST, 2:11 13 

In these verses we have the summary of what the Apostle 
presented in the former paragraph. We are reminded here of 
the privileges to which the Gentiles had attained by the adop¬ 
tion in Christ. 

Ver. 11. Wherefore remember, that aforetime ye, the Gentiles 
in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called 
Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands. 

Who belongs to this new creation? Gentiles who have been 
saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle calls 
the Gentiles’ attention to their condition before they were called 
into fellowship with Christ. “You Gentiles who were dead in 
your unregenerate life. You were sunken in corruption, living 
in opposition to God and held under the power of the wicked one, 
the Devil.” All of us, no matter what race we belong to, who 
have experienced what it is to enjoy the Spiritual life, remem¬ 
ber how we were held under sin and death. We are conscious 
of the wonderful possibilities that are yet ahead of us in the 
ages to come. The grace that has done so much for us already 
is unlimited in power as to securing that which the Word of 


60 


EPHESIANS 


God holds out in promise. It makes little difference what in¬ 
fluence may be brought against us, we must hold firmly to 
Christ Jesus in the face of all opposition and we are sure of 
victory all along the way. 

Ver. 12. That ye were at that time separate from Christ, 
alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the 
covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in 
the world. 

The Apostle is enumerating the losses of the Gentiles com¬ 
pared with those of the Jews. The Gentiles were without the 
expectation of the Messiah. They were not included in the 
covenants of God. They did not have any hope of a life to 
come, and they did not have the help and security which was 
claimed by the Jews. 

“Covenants of promise.” These are the various covenants 
of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All of these cove¬ 
nants God had made with the Jewish nation in which were 
the promises of the Messiah and of His inheritance. 

“Having no hope.” The hope of Israel, which Paul preached 
to the Gentiles, was a hope for the world and nations as well 
as for the individual. They had no hope as expressed here in 
this verse. They were without God in the world. The heathen 
are represented as living in the wicked and weary world, and 
having no full assurance of God’s providence. 

The description given here of the condition of the Gentile 
world is very similar to that given in the first chapter of the 
book of Romans. They did not live up, even to the privileges 
that they had of knowing God, and so the Gentiles, steeped in 
sin and transgressions, were helpless. Their condition became 
more serious and their guilt was constantly increasing. 

Ver. 13. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off 
are made nigh in the blood of Christ. 

It is through faith in Jesus Christ that this nation had hope. 
The Apostle shows the contrast in individual heathen between 
their state of sin and transgression and their union with Christ. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 61 


The Gentiles realized more fully the security and help received 
from the Messiah and that they belonged to Him, and so it 
seemed easier for the Gentiles to get into fuller possession of 
the blessings of God than the Jews, who were trusting in the 
law and therefore in a state of blindness as to Christian possi¬ 
bilities. 

These Gentiles were once far off, aliens and strangers to 
this great privilege, but now their relation is changed. They 
are brought into communion and fellowship with God through 
the blood of His Son. “What is it that has brought this dif¬ 
ference that has transported you from the wilderness of Hell 
to the midst of the city of God? It is the blood of Christ. It is 
the sacrificial death that brought thee from far off into the midst 
of God’s favor.” It was in Christ Jesus that God reconciled, 
not a nation, but a world to himself. 

The Greeks, during Christ’s last week on earth, desired to 
see Him. He exclaimed (John 12:32), “If I be lifted up 
from the earth, I will draw all men unto me.” The cross of 
Christ is to draw humanity around it by its infinite love and 
sorrow, by the perfect apprehension there is in it of the world’s 
gift and need, and the perfect submission of God’s law to the 
cross that man might be made free from sin. 

The Jews, who had seemed nigh unto God, the chosen people, 
the people who enjoyed the greatest privileges of any nation, 
which was so miraculously saved from Egyptian bondage, sup¬ 
plied for years with Heaven’s manna, has now lost its nearness 
through disobedience, and a new people, a new creation, is given 
the nearer place in God. This means that any individual, Jew 
or Gentile, may have an opportunity to become a member of 
this new people that is nearest to God through the Cross of 
Jesus Christ. 

QUESTIONS 

What were the Gentiles to remember? 

Name the Gentiles’ condition presented here? 

Why say they were far off? 

What has changed that relation? 


62 


EPHESIANS 


4. JEW AND GENTILE BECOME ONE BODY 

IN CHRIST, 2: 14-18 

In these verses we have the blessed work of Christ in mak¬ 
ing peace between Jew and Gentile and between man and God. 
The hostility of Jew and Gentile was removed through Christ’s 
death and resurrection. The occasion of quarrel between Israel 
and the world was destroyed, the barrier dispersed that had for 
so long fenced off the privileged ground of the sons of Abra¬ 
ham. The Apostle is a student of prophecy. The Old Testa¬ 
ment holds the record of prophetic utterances that are fulfilled 
in the different dispensations, and the man who is acquainted 
with the inspired Word of God, can in a measure at least under¬ 
stand the conditions necessary to the fulfilment of the things 
prophesied. God’s promise to His scattered people, Israel, in 
the time of the exile (Is. 57: 19) was peace. Peace to those 
who were far off and those who were near. 

Ver. 14. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake 
down the middle wall of partition. 

The Apostle goes beyond what the prophet says about the 
far off and the near, into a larger and more distant field than 
that foreseen by the prophets. Christ is our peace, not for 
the divided members of Israel alone, but for all the tribes of 
men. He brings about a universal peace. 

There is a wide difference between the two great peoples, 
the Jews and the Gentiles. Only by the power of God could 
these two be made one. In this he broke down the partition 
wall or fence which was set up between the two. The Gentiles 
were without the promise and covenants of God while the Jews 
were the people of promise, which contains in itself the notion 
of separation. The Jews were insignificant and had scarcely 
counted among the great powers of the world. Their religion 
alone gave them influence and importance. Their enmity 
existed as a wall between these two peoples and is still there. 
It is only through Him who died to make it possible that all 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 63 


people by accepting Him may get rid of that which causes this 
division. It is only through God’s power that this enmity can 
be overcome and peace can be made. This is really the end of 
Christ’s mission. It is the victory of the cross over strife that 
brings about this peace. 

Ver. 15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the 
law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might 
create in himself of the twain one new man, so making peace. 

Christ took down the wall of hatred existing between the 
two peoples by coming into the world, and taking upon Him¬ 
self flesh and blood. In this way we are told this enmity was 
overcome, by His coming in the flesh and dying on the cross. 

“Even the law of commandments.” This law owes its 
origin to God alone, who purposed by it, when He gave it from 
Sinai, the complete separation to Himself of His chosen people 
from all the rest of the world. Israel never fully submitted 
to this law of separation from the surrounding nations, but 
constantly disregarded it and broke through. They did not 
want to be a peculiar people and for this reason God punished 
them again and again. For a faithful Israelite to associate with 
the Gentile was sin. This is what “enmity” means: a holy 
difference between God’s chosen people and the world about. 
It developed into race antipathy or hatred, religious fanaticism 
or bigotry. God who raised this wall of separation, now re¬ 
moves it, that He may bring together Jew and Gentile and 
create in Himself of the two, “one new Man.” 

Ver. 16. And might reconcile them both into one body unto 
God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. 

This is the second part of God’s work as a peacemaker. 
First, he united Jew and Gentile, then He makes them into one 
body. The one body is formed by the combination of Jew and 
Gentile. This was all done by the cross. It is the cross which 
is the instrument by which mankind is reconciled unto God. 
It must be the cross that reconciles man to man. We cannot 
have a fatherhood of God until we have the cross to reconcile 


64 


EPHESIANS 


us to God. We cannot have a brotherhood of man until the 
cross of Christ makes that brotherhood through the blood unto 
reconciliation. It is the cross that cleanses. At the cross recon¬ 
ciliation is found. Peace is made between man and God and 
man and man. 

Ver. 17. And He came and preached peace to you that were 
far off, and peace to them that were nigh. 

He that reconciles by the cross, preached good tidings of 
peace. Christ did not only effect peace but He joined both 
man and God and in this way He is giving us the good news 
of peace which He made Himself. This was Christ’s mission 
in His own person and it is this which is to be accomplished 
by his messengers whom he now commissions. He speaks here 
to the Jews who were nigh and to the Gentiles who were 
far off. He speaks to those who are within and without the 
Church. Christ was preaching the good tidings of peace 
through the words and lives of His 10,000 messengers. All 
those who have been reconciled at the Cross of Christ are 
Epistles read and known of all men. 

Ver. 18. For through him we both have our access in one 
Spirit unto the Father. 

This is the gospel of peace, that He has delivered them by 
the indwelling Spirit and through Him all mankind may be 
delivered. We are to come in one Spirit to the Father. The 
reconciled join hands again with each other. You will be able 
to say to the man who hated you the most, “Beloved, if God 
now loves us, we ought also to love one another.” Individually, 
now, those who are regenerated can say this. The teaching 
through the prophets makes it clear that nations will have to 
say it some day, even as regenerated man now says it. 

QUESTIONS 

In whom do we find our peace and how? 

How is it possible to make the Jews and Gentiles one? 

What means were used to break down the wall or fence 
between the Jews and Gentiles? 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 65 


What is meant by “the law of commandments”? 

Who came to preach peace to those who were near and those 
who were far? 

5. GOD’S TEMPLE IN HUMANITY, 2:19-22 

We have been reconciled through the cross of Jesus Christ. 
Peace has been made between us. We are instructed that we 
have access through one Spirit which shows us God’s ways 
with mankind, and in this way Jews and Gentiles are being 
brought together into one and compacted into a new humanity. 
Now this new humanity has a new Head in whom we have 
protection and confidence. The old humanity is still under 
the former head, Adam. 

Ver. 19. So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, 
but ye are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household 
of God. 

The church is being built for an occupant. Jesus said to 
His disciples, “Upon this rock will I build my Church.” He 
is the Builder. He inspects all the material that is used in the 
construction of the Church. It is built to suit Him who is to 
inhabit it. He says to Himself, “Here will I dwell for I 
desire it.” 

We have been reconciled. We are under the direction of 
the new Head, we belong to a new society, we are citizens of 
another country, we are members of the family of God. Paul 
says to the Corinthians, “You are God’s temple and the Spirit 
of God dwelleth in you.” God delivers individually, Jew and 
Gentile, through faith from sin and death. The principalities 
and powers and world rulers of darkness are gradually losing 
their power since Christ, by His .sacrifice, has bruised the head 
of Satan. The saints are citizens of a higher order because 
they belong to the Body of Christ, formed by the Word of God, 
a new humanity in Christ. 

Among the saints we are to include only those who have 
been thus termed from the beginning by the Apostles as Chris¬ 
tians. This distinction the Apostle is constantly emphasizing, 

Vol. 3—s 


66 


EPHESIANS 


that it can only be those who have been transformed by faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ and are constantly under His direc¬ 
tion. God has a chosen people, a chosen family, known as the 
household of God. They are the ones who belong to the house, 
to the family, whose Head is Christ. They have a relation, a 
fellowship with the saints, and have become God’s habitation. 

Ver. 20. Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. 

This Church shows that it is built upon a strong foundation. 
These are churches founded in some of the great cities and 
have, no doubt, some congregational differences with one an¬ 
other. The context would admit only of their preaching of 
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ himself was the foundation and 
they therefore would not be permitted to preach anything but 
Jesus Christ crucified, risen, ascended, and glorified. 

The Apostles had a special mission in the Early Church and 
we can well understand what their duties were in the organizing 
and carrying forward of the Church in that period. The 
prophets here referred to were associates with the apostles and 
are the New Testament prophets. Paul spoke of these in the 
Book of Romans, so the Apostle speaks here of the founders 
of the Church being known as preachers and teachers in this 
age of grace. These were founders under one and the same 
spirit. They could labor together at a distance and with 
methods extremely various with confidence in each other and 
with an assurance of unity in results, which their teaching and 
administration would exhibit. These different places of worship 
were directed by the same spirit and formed one body known 
as the Church of Christ. Where there is the same Spirit and 
the same Lord, men do not need to be scrupulous about visible 
conformity. There is but one foundation and that foundation 
is headed by Jesus Christ, and no matter what other foundation 
may be laid, all will come to naught but that which God has 
authorized, and that only will He accept. 

There are two heads. One is the first Adam, who, because 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 67 


of disobedience, became the head of the unregenerate races, 
and the second head, the second Adam, Christ, who has become 
the head of the regenerated, the new humanity, made over 
through the power of God by the individual having faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ. This new creation is now forming 
and will in time be completed, but no material will the builder 
allow to go into the structure that has not been regenerated, 
made new. This is not a work of reformation, but a work of 
transformation. 

The Apostle James gives us the warning in the time when 
he lived, and the same warning is needed in this age, that we 
should contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the 
saints, by the apostles and prophets. If we get away from the 
faith that comes through the direct influence of the study of 
the Word of God we may be among those who are being de¬ 
ceived and the deceivers of others. Christ is now the founda¬ 
tion and the third person of the Blessed Trinity is gathering 
material for the building. 

Ver. 21. In whom each several building, fitly framed together, 
groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. 

Christ is the person on whom the building rests and by 
whom it is fitly framed together. It is the building fitly framed 
together which groweth into the holy temple of the Lord. 
The individuals who make up this building are growing into 
each other step by step, and by a natural and vital growth. 
Because of the invisible commission, they are one in their 
underlying faith. Here we have every organ of the Body in 
its own degree becoming perfect and holding its place in keep¬ 
ing with the rest. This includes more than the individual 
members’ perfection. It is the perfection of the members of 
the Body which is being formed. When the Body of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Church, is a unit, as presented here, 
there will then no longer be weakness and sins and internal 
conflict. There will be a going forth of united forces with 
irresistible energy. The Kingdom of Darkness will be assailed 


68 


EPHESIANS 


and the world will be brought under the subjection of Christ. 
Christ prays for this (John 17:17-26). He looked beyond the 
end of the age. He foresaw the day when the wounds of His 
Church would be healed, and through the unity and faith of 
love, his people and all mankind would come to acknowledge 
Him and the Father. 

“Fitly framed together.” Here we have the description of 
the ideal church, the actual church. No matter what dissension 
may be expressed, it will remain Christ’s Church as long as it 
continues to rest upon Christ as its foundation. It has been 
in building for a number of centuries. Much has been gathered 
from the world, polished and admitted as material into this 
new building. This building is becoming greater and more 
substantial from generation to generation. This body, the 
Church, becomes the holy temple of the Lord. The Christian 
himself, as an individual, is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 
Here the Church, the members of Christ’s body, are declared 
to be the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). 

Ver. 22. In whom ye also are builded together for a habita¬ 
tion of God in the Spirit. 

Ye that were especially (2:11) strangers (2:19), and 
dead in trespasses and sins (2: 1), and now built in as living 
stones with others for a habitation of God through the Spirit. 
It is God who through the Spirit dwells in you—in His Church. 
The Holy Spirit is the Agent in securing and polishing material 
for the building of His Church. He, the Holy Spirit, is the 
supreme witness of Jesus Christ. 

The tabernacle and temple were the buildings erected for 
God’s dwelling place among His people. He no longer dwells 
in buildings made of material that perisheth, but through His 
Son, Jesus Christ, a new house is being fashioned for Himself. 
Christ is the chief cornerstone upon which this building rests 
and the Holy Spirit is to inspire and control the material that 
goes into the building. The foundation was made and the 
church was builded together for a habitation of God, hence it 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 69 


is important that her ministry should be in the hands of wise 
and faithful stewards of God in this dispensation of grace. 
“The stone which the builders rejected is made the head of the 
corner” (Ps. 118:22). The work has been tried by fire and 
by flood. It abides and Christ Himself said that the gates of 
Hades shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). The Rock 
of Ages stands unworn by time, and unshaken by the conflict 
of the ages. 

We have been washed, we have been cleansed, we are mem¬ 
bers of the Church, the family of God, the habitation of God 
Himself. The only union of man that can abide is the Church 
of Christ that makes one family and one household. Since the 
establishment of the Church, God needs no longer any dis¬ 
tinction of nations. All have access to God the Father through 
Christ by one Spirit (Ver. 18). 

“Hast thou transformed every chamber and hall, nook and 
corner, all the heights and depths of this inner man, to Him 
for a pure Spiritual indwelling? Art thou His temple?” 

QUESTIONS 

Who are the strangers and sojourners? 

Give the meaning of, “Fellow citizens with the Saints.” 

What is the only foundation the Bible upholds? 

Christ said, “Upon this rock I will build my Church.” Is 
this the meaning of Ver. 21? 

Why call Christ the chief corner-stone? 

For whose dwelling place is the Church built? 

What is the Holy Spirit’s purpose in this age? 

III. The Church a Mystery Hidden from Past 

Ages, 3:1-21 

1. THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN CHRIST CONCERN¬ 
ING CHRIST MYSTICAL, 3:1-13 

This chapter reveals a secret that was hidden in God from 
before the foundation of the world. Through Christ we have 
entered the school of grace where the Holy Spirit is the 


70 


EPHESIANS 


teacher. The first great lesson He taught us in the Epistle 
to the Romans was about ourselves. We were dead in tres¬ 
passes and sins and by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we 
received forgiveness and through union with Christ we have 
our position and standing in the Head. The Holy Spirit 
through the Apostle Paul moves us into an advanced class 
and permits us to study these advanced lessons presented by 
the Builder of the Church in this great text-book that we are 
now studying. The first great lesson we learn here is about 
God, just what God did that we might come into possession 
of these Spiritual blessings and to have Spiritual life imparted 
unto us. We have been taught that we died and have risen in 
and with Christ. We have learned how He was substituted for 
us and now how we are identified with Him, therefore we are 
raised up together with Him and we are made to sit together 
with Him in Heavenly places. 

We have studied the first great purpose (1:3-14) where 
we have learned what He has made Christ to be unto us. We 
are now beginning the second great purpose as we open this 
chapter—what He has made us to be in Christ—members of 
His Body. The Apostle concludes chapter two by showing 
that Jews and Gentiles are one Body in Christ (2: 16). They 
become so united through the power of Christ that they are 
builded together for an habitation for God through the Spirit 
(2:22). The Apostle thinking of this wonderful mystery of 
God brought about through the members of the Church, of 
which Christ is the Head, building a habitation for God says, 
“For this cause I, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you 
Gentiles.” He feels his great need of communion with God 
in prayer. He is not a prisoner for the world or a prisoner 
for the Roman government, but a prisoner of Christ that Gen¬ 
tiles might become members of the Body of Christ and become 
material in this building and a habitation of God. However, 
the Apostle utters but a few words of prayer and in the act 
of doing so, the great subject of which his mind is full—the 
secret, the mystery that God was about to fully reveal through 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 71 


—was forcing itself upon him and he holds back his words 
of prayer until this secret of God is first made known. 

Verses 3:2-13 are in the form of a parenthesis. The mate¬ 
rial contained in these verses is very weighty and important. 
They contain much of the unsearchable riches of God. The 
foundation of all blessing is in the purpose of God Himself. 
The will of God is the source of all riches and grace. This 
eternal purpose, the mystery of His own will (1:9) is here 
made known. This eternal purpose, so much of a secret to 
many, is followed from Ver. 14 to the close of the chapter 
with a prayer that he might reveal this purpose. It is what 
God does and we are not able to see it through reason and 
mind, and so the Holy Spirit by prayer takes us to the throne 
of grace, showing us that no human wisdom is able in any sense 
to comprehend the great purposes of God as set forth in this 
great text-book for the Church. 

Ver. 1. For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus 
in behalf of you Gentiles. 

In the fourteenth verse, the Apostle repeats the same phrase, 
“For this cause.” The Apostle has been set apart unto the 
Gospel of God. He has been given a definite and specific mis¬ 
sion. He is the Apostle of the Gentiles and Christ made him 
a prisoner that the Gentiles through faith might become mem¬ 
bers of Christ’s Body. He here speaks of his own imprison¬ 
ment. He realizes the fact that he is one whom Christ has put 
in chains. Christ, when He was about to be nailed to the cross, 
was conscious that He could have at His command legions of 
angels that would protect Him and that He would not need 
to go to the cross. However, He became obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross that through faith in that cross and 
Christ a union might be formed between Jew and Gentile who 
were enemies. A great wall was between them that only 
through sacrifice and death could be destroyed. And the same 
Spirit that was in Christ, that made him willing to go to the 
cross, is now incarnate in the Apostle, and he becomes a 


72 


EPHESIANS 


prisoner, not because Christ did not have the power to keep 
him out of prison, but because he must suffer as the Master 
suffered that Gentiles might know the Spirit of the Christ. 
He is therefore put in chains for the express purpose of bring¬ 
ing blessings to the Gentile world. Christ was put to death on 
the cross that blessings might be brought to the whole world. 

When he thinks of being in chains, and in chains for the 
purpose of Christ, that Gentiles might be saved, his imagination 
is set on fire and it awakens in his heart a passion of gratitude. 
Who could desire a more honorable title? This title was given 
to the Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit and has inspired thou¬ 
sands to greater stability in Christ’s service. The Gentiles are 
made to see and feel that Paul was suffering imprisonment 
from the Lord that salvation, sanctification, and glorification 
might be theirs. 

Ver. 2. If so be that ye have heard of the dispensation 
(stewardship) of that grace of God which was given me to youward. 

The Apostle knows that they are in possession of this in¬ 
formation. It is the dispensation of the grace of God. The 
grace is the thing that is emphasized here. The grace is ex¬ 
plained by Romans (1:5). It is grace and apostleship. It is 
the living gift of commission and inspiration to preach Christ 
among the Gentiles. It is the Divine dispensation whereby 
the grace of God was freely bestowed upon the Apostle that 
men in darkness might be brought unto the light and knowledge 
of God. This grace was given to the Apostle. It is this par¬ 
ticular thing that Paul means to express in these verses and 
he emphasizes the grace of God that is shown to the Gentiles. 

He calls attention to the unsearchable riches of Christ, 
“given to me to youward.” He is especially set apart by the 
Holy Spirit and put in possession of this gift of God’s grace 
that at this particular time members of the Body of Christ 
might come into a more complete knowledge of this mystery. 
Paul means to say that a study of the truths set forth in this 
Epistle and a comprehension of the blessings God has for those 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 73 


who are in union with Christ, will make for steadfastness, 
unity, and harmony in Christian life. 

Ver. 3. How that by revelation was made known unto me 
the mystery, as I wrote afore in a few words. 

The Apostle heard the Master’s voice in that memorable 
journey on the way to Damascus. He was not appointed by 
any human agent to this great work of the Church. This call 
came to him from Christ himself. His was a holy call, and 
just as he was called by the Master Himself, the Master now 
makes revelations to him. He became a chosen vessel set apart 
by Christ, the Builder of the Church. He was an Apostle to 
the Gentiles and yet related to his Jewish brethren in the flesh. 
His great mission, therefore, was to be used as an instrument 
to break down the middle wall of partition, to get rid of every 
prejudice and tradition in order to make known how the 
mystical Body of Christ was to be built. For this very reason 
God revealed to him this secret—that which was hidden and 
kept a secret from the foundation of the world. This secret 
is nowhere revealed in the Old Testament; however, in the 
Book of Romans Paul spoke of it briefly (Rom. 16:25-27). 
This paragraph takes up that which Paul began to tell in the 
Book of Romans. This mystery was revealed and communi¬ 
cated unto Paul. It is no longer a mystery, it is no longer 
hidden. Paul was separated unto the Gospel of God, which 
is not a secret; however, in addition to the news unfolded by 
the Apostle that all who were sinners, whether Jews or Gen¬ 
tiles, must accept Jesus Christ by faith in order to have eternal 
glory, the Apostle before closing the Book of Romans speaks 
of an additional revelation, a “my Gospel” which was the secret 
that was hidden. The Jews, to whom were intrusted the oracles 
of God, had through traditional teaching been blinded to their 
own possibilities and now here one of their own number, the 
Apostle Paul, discovers the great secret of God that the Gen¬ 
tiles are incorporated in the Body of Christ and that through 
individual Jews and Gentiles He is making One new Man, His 
Body, a mystical Body, the Church. 


74 


EPHESIANS 


Ver. 4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may perceive my under¬ 
standing in the mystery (or secret) of Christ. 

The mystery of Christ was the mystery which has the 
Christ for its object and purpose; the mystery revealed is that 
Christ is in us and through us, forming for Himself a body. 
The Holy Spirit is here to help us understand something con¬ 
cerning this secret. Give Him His way in your reading and 
allow Him to show you this secret or you will not be able to 
understand what Paul says in these verses. This Epistle is 
to be read in the different churches. Had the Apostle been 
addressing the Epistle alone to the Ephesians, he would no 
doubt have appealed to a previous passage in this epistle rather 
than to their personal knowledge for proof of his insight into 
this mystery. 

Ver. 5. Which in other generations was not made known 
unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His holy 
apostles and prophets in the Spirit. 

What is it that was not made known? This secret, the 
eternal purpose of God as to what He made His people to be 
in Christ. Some interpreters limit this text or mystery to the 
fact that the Gentiles would be brought into the blessings in 
connection with Christ, and yet all who are acquainted with 
God’s Word know that this never was a secret hidden in God 
and now made known to the sons of men until we find it here 
in Ephesians (3:9). That which God had in mind concerning 
the Head, Christ, the mystical Christ, the Church, was kept a 
secret hidden in God. Israel is without excuse and was abso¬ 
lutely responsible for the rejection of the offer of salvation 
through repentance made by Christ’s servant, Peter. 

Why was this kept a secret, a mystery? It is not for us 
to speculate as to what might have happened had Israel accepted 
the Christ instead of rejecting Him. We know that God had 
His purposes before the foundation of the world. He fore¬ 
knew and had in His mind everything connected with the pur¬ 
pose of the ages. God does not, in His great plan, do what 
men do when they begin to erect a building—take away part 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 


75 


after it has been built, or make additions never thought of by 
the architect before. God’s plans are set out in His Word, 
and here we have one purpose of His kept a secret for cen¬ 
turies and when the proper time came He revealed it to man 
in order that His plan concerning the human family might be 
known, developed, and continued. 

God’s Word clearly teaches us that salvation through Jesus 
Christ—justification by faith—was the subject of Divine revela¬ 
tion all through the ages. Regeneration through faith, as set 
forth by the gospel, was God’s plan beginning with Adam 
(Gen. 3:15). That good news—salvation by faith—made 
known to Abraham, was not hidden by God but was promised 
and was referred to (Romans 4:2) in the Gospel as witnessed 
by the apostles and prophets (Rom. 1:2). Israel was to be 
a blessing unto the Gentiles and that was revealed in God’s 
Word. It was said to Abraham, “In thee shall all the families 
of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Holy men of God, in 
speaking and writing, frequently call attention to the Messianic 
promise, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s 
head.” These promises concerning the coming of the suffering 
Saviour are set out more clearly from one book to another 
until the Old Testament closes. 

What, then, is this great secret? It is that individuals shall 
be taken out of all of these peoples, Jews and Gentiles, and 
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ be made one body, a 
mystical body (Eph. 3:9), of which Christ shall be made the 
glorious head in Heaven, His people here, the members of that 
body on earth. This is what was revealed to the apostles and 
prophets in the Spirit. The prophets, concerning the mystery, 
are associated with the apostles. The Old Testament prophets 
looked from the hilltop of Christ’s suffering to the other hill¬ 
top of His glory. The Apostle Peter speaks of this great 
truth emphasized in the Old Testament (1 Peter 1:10-12). 
The prophets inquired and searched diligently concerning salva¬ 
tion. The Old Testament prophets looked forward concerning 
grace. The Jehovah Spirit was in them, testifying even before 


76 


EPHESIANS 


the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. 
These are some of the secret things, partially made known unto 
the prophets, but the mystery that we are discussing here is 
something that was hidden and never made known to the 
prophets and apostles until revealed to the Apostle Paul. 

We know that the suffering of Christ was not a secret and 
that the glory that should follow was not. The Jews emphasized 
the glory and forgot the suffering, and because of emphasizing 
the glory and not willing to become partakers of the suffering, 
they became the instruments through which Christ was made 
to suffer. The prophets, however, conscious of the inner life 
directed by the Spirit, were concerned as to how long the period 
should be between the suffering of Christ and the glory which 
was not clear to them. We do not yet know the length of this 
period between Christ’s suffering and Christ’s glory or Christ’s 
return. This period between the suffering and the glory would 
not have been long if the message of reconciliation that Peter 
offered on the day of Pentecost to the Jewish nation had been 
accepted. Israel would have then been accepted as a nation 
instead of rejected, remaining a scattered people until the 
Body of Christ, the mystical Church, is completed. 

Old Testament prophecy began to be fulfilled at Pentecost 
(Acts 2:16-22). The Spirit was poured out just as was fore¬ 
told and a definite offer made to Israel as a nation (Acts 3:18). 
The things God foretold by the mouth of the prophet, that 
Christ should suffer, were then fulfilled. God was not mocking 
His people when He called to them for repentance. There are 
different passages in the New Testament that show that the 
apostles were associated with prophets in this age of grace 
(Acts 13:1; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 2:20, 3:5). 

Ver. 6. That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-mem¬ 
bers of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ 
Jesus through the Gospel. 

They are to be fellow-heirs and this assures all Gentile 
readers of their final redemption and Heavenly glory. They 
are included in Christ’s inheritance. Now Paul says here that 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 77 


they are of the same body and are part of the building described 
in the close of Chapter 2, where Jews and Gentiles were used 
as material for a habitation of God. The Gentiles are fellow- 
heirs and members of this body and now the Apostle emphasizes 
the fact that they are fellow-partakers of the promises. The 
Gentiles receive every privilege enjoyed by the Jewish believers 
when brought into this Body of Christ, or in making this New 
Man. They receive the same privileges, enjoy the very same 
blessings as those to whom the oracles of God were given. 
This is certainly a great mystery that can only be received by 
those who are regenerated out of this Jewish nation. The 
Jewish nation remains blinded to these blessings to be enjoyed 
by the Jew and Gentile alike. 

Ver. 7. Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift 
of that grace of God which was given me according to the work¬ 
ing of His power. 

Paul was made a minister of Christ. He speaks here of 
the grace that was given him to preach to the Gentile people 
Christ’s unsearchable riches. Paul, a regenerated Jew, has a 
great task before him. The Apostle is raised up at this critical 
period. It pleased God to reveal His Son in Him that he 
might preach Him among the Gentiles. What boundless wealth 
in Christ is in store for this Gentile nation, brought to it through 
a converted Jew, discovered for it in the Jewish Bible. The 
Jewish nation will have to learn some day that their greatness 
is in Christ and that the light which lightens the Gentiles is 
their true glory. The mystery that the Jews and Gentiles are 
to participate in Christ is now revealed unto the sons of men. 
Let us make ourselves worthy that the veil may be lifted that 
now hides this blessing from the heart of Israel. 

Ver. 8. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, 
was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable 
(untrackable) riches of Christ. 

He no doubt knew of the part played by his brethren in 
putting Christ to death. He was a bitter antagonist to the 


78 


EPHESIANS 


Church; the one who stood by when Stephen was stoned. Is 
it any wonder that he says, “Who am less than the least of all 
saints is this grace given.” The secret of Jesus is with them 
that fear Him and they endure through Christ’s covenant. Such 
was the rule of revelation. He is the man who seemed to be 
at one time the greatest opposer of God and Christ, but who 
has become, through God’s power, the man to accept Christ and 
has the conviction to stand. You can hear him say, “Here I 
stand; no matter what others may do, I will be true to Jesus 
Christ.” It is to men of this type, who have conviction, to 
whom God can reveal His secrets. To such Christ says, “The 
pure in heart shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). “If any man will 
do his will he shall know the doctrine” (John 7: 17). The 
pure eye sees the true light. There are riches and wealth un¬ 
searchable and untrackable. We cannot enter into its depths, 
we cannot even experience its fulness, no matter what our 
relation may be with Christ. 

The Bible, the Book of God, was written by holy men 
under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Men and women 
could come into possession of this great Book and search it 
and discover the riches of Christ foretold at least in part in the 
Old Testament. But we are taught here that there are un¬ 
searchable riches in this Word, “Unsearchable” occurs twice; 
here and in Romans 11:33. The Apostle cries out, “Oh the 
depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
God. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past 
finding out.” This means that which cannot be traced or 
tracked. It is a way that cannot be fully discovered. In 
Romans we are told that it is past finding out, and here in 
Ephesians we find it is unsearchable. 

Now these untrackable riches of Christ, which the prophets 
could trace out, are not the mystery, because they were not 
concealed. Many prophets revealed the truth concerning the 
Gentiles. These unsearchable or untrackable riches of Christ 
are not merely the blessings that are for the Gentiles (Acts 
15:3-4), but the taking out of individuals from different 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 79 


nations to form a body for Christ. The Apostle calls attention 
to this mystery in Romans 16: 25-27 and in Colossians 1: 24-27. 
The Apostle also speaks of his ministry being for a specific and 
definite purpose, that a mystery which hath been hidden from 
the ages was to be made known unto the saints, and that God 
would make known the unsearchable riches of the glory of this 
mystery. We are frequently reminded of the blessed hope of 
the regenerated who are the members of the Body of Christ. 

Ver. 9. And to make all men see what is the dispensation 
(stewardship) of the mystery (or secret) which from all ages hath 
been hid in God who created all things. 

Paul, as well as all ministers of the Gospel, has a great 
commission. They must first see themselves before they can 
make other men see. The more we have to do with God and 
His Word, the more our own nothingness is emphasized. The 
more we feel the need of the power of the Spirit to help us 
out of our weakness into these greater things that God has 
for our hearts to feel and to know, the better we are prepared 
to help other men into this union with Christ. 

Just what is the duration of this present interval? (1 Pet. 
1:11.) What do we know of the creation of the Kingdom and 
its consequences? (Matt. 11:12.) These are some more 
things that are kept secret. We do not want to lose sight of 
the secret or mystery which is Christ mystical, the Body, and 
that is what the Apostle Paul says he was unveiling and making 
known unto the saints of God. Paul teaches (1 Cor. 12: 12), 
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the 
members of the body being many, are one body, so also is 
Christ.” When we talk about Christ mystical, we mean the 
Body of Christ, the Church of the invisible God, “For in one 
Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or 
Greeks” (1 Cor. 12:13). Christ, the Church (the Body of 
Christ), is the great secret, and if we bear this in mind, light 
will come to us on other Scriptures that are not clear to our 
minds. 


80 


EPHESIANS 


The Head of this Body is already in glory. As the mem¬ 
bers of this Body, we have now only to be received up into 
glory. The Christian, having died and risen in Christ, is seated 
in the Heavenlies with Him (Eph. 2:6). Death may come to 
some and not to others. If Christ should come, then those 
living on the earth need not die. Death is absolutely certain 
unto all those who are unredeemed and remain under the direc¬ 
tion of the first Adam. However, those who are in the second 
Adam, Christ, have already died and if they are living when 
Christ comes, they will not die again, but shall be translated. 
We are further taught about this mystical Body of the Christ, 
“And whether one member sutler, all the members suffer with 
it” (1 Cor. 12: 26). When our Head suffered and died, all the 
members of this Body suffered and died with the Head. If 
the Holy Spirit leads us in this great secret (mystery), then 
we can fully understand what death means to the Christian. 
It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul said, “For I am already 
being offered, and the time of departure is come” (2 Tim. 4:6). 
The Apostle said (1 Cor. 15:51), “Behold I tell you a mystery 
(behold I tell you a secret) we shall not all sleep (die).” That 
is a blessed secret that we will all be changed, and all appear 
with the Head and be caught up to meet the Head in the air. 

The Church is here called the Body of Christ. The husband 
and wife are one in the flesh (Eph. 5:31; Gen. 2:24), so 
Christ and His Church are one in the Spirit. The Head of the 
Body had His appointed suffering and death and the members 
of the Body now have theirs. 

“Who created all things.” Thus God is marked as the 
creator of the universe with all there is of Heaven and earth. 
The same power which created all things, and made a world 
so complete that man was created and given the privilege of 
all the blessings, now offers the mystical power of redemption 
to man, and thus, just as through God a world was created 
and given unto man as an inheritance, so God has brought 
redemption for man by His own power and all His redeemed 
ones are promised “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 81 


and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you” (1 Pet. 

1:4). 

Christ had suffered personally as he finished His part of 
the work in redemption. Paul and all the faithful ones in 
Christ Jesus, as members of Christ’s Body, are now suffering. 
The early Church made progress through sacrifice and suffering 
and thus emphasized the fact that they and the church were in 
direct opposition to the world. This in a large degree is not 
true of the modern Church. The modern Church is searching 
for similarity and prone to emphasize the things that are similar 
instead of the things that make the Church stand out as an 
absolute instrument different from the world. The afflictions 
of the members of the Church are for the benefit of the Church 
as a body. Any sorrow which any one of us may experience 
is for the sake of other members who are of the same body. 
The body is one and so we speak of the unity of the body which 
the Scriptures teach. It is not the unity of the visible Church 
or any bodies of men. This unity in Christ is a unity which 
exists in spite of all contention, division, and factions which 
mortal men may have made. Men have tried to make a visible 
unity and have miserably failed. God has made an invisible 
unity in Christ and it is a glorious and eternal creation. Now 
this union, the Body of Christ, is something that cannot be 
lost or broken. No man can experience or get in possession 
of what is here expressed except through the gift of faith. 

Ver. 10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and the 
powers in the heavenly places might be made known through (by 
means of) the Church the manifold wisdom of God. 

Paul is setting forth here the breadth and grandeur of the 
dispensation of grace, the infinite range of the Divine plan and 
operation of which it forms the center. Its secret was cherished 
in the Divine mind, and Paul is here, in a measure, telling 
what God has done for fallen humanity, and he is doing every¬ 
thing through the Spirit to set it forth that his readers might, 
in a sense, comprehend what God has prepared for those who 

Voi: 3—6 


82 


EPHESIANS 


make up His habitation. The Apostle says this in order that 
through the Church there might be made known unto the 
principalities and powers the wisdom and secrets of God—the 
secrets that were never made known until the age of grace. 
Jesus says, “There is nothing covered which shall not be made 
known.” This is in the plan of the ages which was developed 
through Christ. God designed, by our redemption, to bless 
higher races along with our own. The purpose of the revelation 
of the mystery being the manifestation of God’s wisdom, the 
time was to come, when in some mysterious, powerful way the 
same privileges were to be granted unto Jew and Gentile, and 
supernatural power brought to bear upon both in making One 
new Man, one Body. 

To the Gentile was granted the gift of adoption. Some of 
the Jews were enlightened upon this great principle, while others 
are still blinded because unworthy and disobedient to the Word 
of God. God’s plans are still a mystery to them and they look 
upon the Church and do not understand in it the unfolding 
of the wisdom of God. It is through the Church that God 
is manifesting this wisdom. God has given unto the individuals 
of all nations an invitation to receive His Son through faith 
and become fellow-heirs of the same body and partakers of 
the same promise. It is the manifold wisdom. 

Everything that the Apostle says tends to exalt our Re¬ 
deemer and to enhance our confidence in Him. In His own 
hand is the key of the mystery. He himself is the center of 
Israel, Israel of the unknown ages. 

Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “Being therefore by 
the right hand of God exalted—He hath poured forth this 
which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The resurrection 
from death, the demonstration of the Holy Spirit proved Jesus 
Christ to be that which He claimed to be, the Saviour of men, 
and the eternal Son of God. The angels with their intelligence 
could not penetrate God’s intentions concerning this world. 
The incarnation, the cross, the proclaiming of the Gospel, the 
resurrection, the ascension, the outpouring of the Spirit, were 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 83 


all full of surprises to the Heavenly watchers. The angels sang 
at Bethlehem. They hid their faces and shrouded Heaven in 
darkness at the sight of Calvary. They bent down in eager 
observation, searched for, and desired to look into the things 
made known unto men (1 Pet. 1:12). 

The Apostle, as he writes on this great subject of grace, 
feels that there are other eyes bent upon him than those of 
his fellow men, and that he is acting in a grander arena than 
the world. The Saviour’s mission on the earth created a prob¬ 
lem for the angels, the development of which they followed 
with an earnest and sympathetic interest. How they must be 
watching the conflict between good and evil, and the progress 
of God’s Eternal Purpose among men. 

Ver. 11. According to the eternal purpose (according to the 
plan of the ages) which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Paul hastens to say that the manifestation of God’s wisdom, 
now revealed through himself, was no result or accident of 
circumstance, but was purposed by God from before the ages. 
The purpose existed before the universe was created, and was 
fulfilled in and by Christ. God made man in His own image, 
placed him in the garden and gave him dominion over every¬ 
thing. He lost his place as the head of the race through dis¬ 
obedience. It took many centuries to prepare the world until 
Christ the Head of the new race appeared. Out of the material 
that was then upon the earth, Christ through His death and 
resurrection made it possible for a new race, a new, regenerated 
humanity, to come into possession of the redeemed earth. It 
is this eternal purpose, forming this new Body from Jew and 
Gentile that was Paul’s part in this age of grace to make 
known unto the Church. It is this purpose of God which 
has been worked out through Jesus Christ. God has a purpose 
to make known in every dispensation and this was a specific, 
definite purpose made known through the Apostle Paul, which 
can be known when we are in Christ and Christ is within us. 

Ver. 12. In whom we have boldness and access in confidence 
(with assurance) through our faith in Him. 


84 


EPHESIANS 


The Apostle Paul heard the Master’s voice. He knew 
Christ as his Redeemer. He believed that He had bought him. 
He believed that through His death and resurrection he re¬ 
ceived his deliverance from sin and death. It was such knowl¬ 
edge as this that gave him his boldness. Without the Christ, 
the Mediator, man feels himself estranged from God and hides 
himself from Him. Through the knowledge of Christ, a 
knowledge of His death, suffering, and resurrection, we come 
into conviction and confidence. Through faith we realize our 
union with Him. When we have such a knowledge, we come 
to God with the confidence of a little child. Faith always 
begets confidence and confidence begets boldness in which we 
approach Him. This holy confidence in God is illustrated often 
in the Acts and the Epistles. If the reader will turn to these 
passages and make this inspired Word his, he will go in con¬ 
viction and confidence to God (Rom. 8:11-15; 8: 38-39; Acts 
4:13; 4:29-31). 

Ver. 13. Wherefore I ask that ye faint not at my tribulations 
for you (in your behalf) which are your glory. 

“Wherefore”—seeing that I have been the means of bring¬ 
ing you into this state of sonship. If this be true that we are 
adopted and fellow-heirs, this itself ought to be a matter of 
glory and inspire confidence. The Apostle knew how his friends 
were fearing and worrying over his long captivity and because 
of this he writes to the Philippians, “I would have you know, 
brethren, that the things which have happened to me have 
fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel” (Phil. 
1:12). In writing the letter to the Colossians he expressed joy 
in that he was able to suffer for their sake (Col. 1:24). 

The Church was no doubt concerned about Paul’s persecu¬ 
tion and impending death, especially the weak of the Church 
who would be influenced by this imprisonment and perhaps 
become more indifferent as to individual service. The Church, 
however, which was so dear to God and for which God gave 
His own Son to die that He might make Him the Head of the 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 85 


members who had faith in the Head as a Body and habitation, 
is grounded in His eternal purposes. If this be true, then let 
all friends of Christ take courage, and even if some have to 
go into prison as Paul did, let suffering and imprisonment be 
only the means of our giving additional service that others 
may know the Christ. The Church is the greatest institution 
on earth, and an institution freighted with such fortunes cannot 
sink. Paul was a prisoner and became a martyr for Christ. 
All those who love Christ and know His sufferings for our 
salvation, who realize what it cost Paul to bring us this valuable 
message, should boast rather than grieve over afflictions. 

This paragraph opens with prayer (Ver. 1), which is not 
continued until after we come to the close (Ver. 13). The 
Apostle sets forth in the former chapter the wonderful bless¬ 
ings enjoyed by the Christians, and in another place he says, 
“The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be com¬ 
pared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward” (Rom. 
8:18). Now Paul, with this thought in mind, after setting 
out before us the eternal purpose of God concerning this mys¬ 
tery, takes us into the following paragraph in communion with 
God in prayer, that the Holy Spirit might more fully unveil 
these great truths and secrets of God through grace to those 
who love and serve Him. 


QUESTIONS 

What was the cause of Paul’s imprisonment? 

Why does he say, “A prisoner of Jesus Christ”? 

What is the meaning of dispensation? 

What was the purpose of God in the first chapter? (1:3-14.) 

What is the purpose of God in these verses? (3:2-13.) 

What is the meaning of apostles and prophets in Ver. 5? 

What was hidden from the foundation of the world and 
revealed unto Paul? 

How did Paul obtain his ministry? 

Tell us something about the unsearchable riches of Christ. 

What is the mystery of Ver. 9, and the fellowship of the 
mystery? 

What persons would weaken in faith because of Paul's im¬ 
prisonment? 


86 


EPHESIANS 


2. FILLED UNTO ALL THE FULNESS OF 

GOD, 3:14-21 

In verse fourteen the prayer is resumed which the Apostle 
was about to offer at the beginning of the chapter when the 
current of his thoughts carried him away. As before stated, 
the book contains two great prayers following two great pur¬ 
poses. The first prayer (1:15-23) is offered there by the 
Holy Spirit after setting forth what God did that we might 
have our standing in Christ, showing that we were in the mind 
of God before the foundation of the world. Now through the 
Apostle Paul we are told what God did for us that we might 
have our blessings through His Son who is the Head of the 
Church. To make these things clear to us, to enlighten us and 
open the eyes of our understanding, the Holy Spirit takes us 
to God who is able to answer our prayers. 

The chapter we are just now studying sets forth the second 
great purpose of God concerning the mystery in Christ, the 
mystical Church. This is another eternal purpose of God, and 
just how individuals living in sin, no matter to what nation 
they belong, can be delivered from sin and death and united 
through faith in Christ into this mystical Body to become a 
habitation for God, is as difficult to understand as the matter 
presented in the first chapter. So again, Paul through the 
Holy Spirit takes us unto God whose children we are, that he 
may, through the Spirit, help us to come into a deeper fellow¬ 
ship and a more pronounced experience as members of the 
Body of Christ. 

Ver. 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father (of 
our Lord Jesus Christ). 

This prayer opened with the first verse of this chapter, 
and it is continued here. Verses 2-13 are in the form of 
a parenthesis so the reader could read from the first verse 
omitting all and beginning again with the fourteenth verse. 

The Apostle told us his part in disclosing this secret unto 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 87 


the world and of the interest it excited among those who dwell 
in Heavenly places. The Apostle is conscious not only of 
the fact of those dwelling with him who are flesh and blood, 
but knows that above bim are dwellers who are interested in 
what is accomplished among men as to redemption. 

The Apostle calls our attention to the attitude of prayer 
(Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60). This is in perfect harmony with 
the boldness and confidence expressed in Ver. 12. The words, 
“of our Lord Jesus Christ,” are used in some very ancient 
documents, including the Syrian and Latin versions, but the 
Church fathers omitted them, believing that the Latin copies 
were in error. 

In introducing the two prayers, two relationships are 
announced at the outset—God and the Father. “God” has 
reference to creative power and that is for whom the prayer 
was offered in the first chapter, and the prayer is introduced 
by “Father” and refers to covenant relationship and the grace. 
In this prayer we have reference to what God has purposed 
in Christ concerning us in the making of one family in Him, 
members of His Body, sons and heirs in Christ and with Him 
in all His glory. Hence the second prayer commences with 
this title. The first prayer is addressed to God of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. This prayer we are now studying is addressed 
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ver. 15. From whom every family in heaven and on earth is 
named. 

The prayer is unfolding the mystery that Jews and Gentiles 
are made one in Christ Jesus and are spiritually descended from 
one ancestry as they have become joint-heirs or partakers in 
common of the promises made to the descendants. They are 
of their Father’s house, of the habitation of God, and angelic 
beings are included in it (1:10). This increases our confidence 
to know that whether we belong to earth’s redeemed family 
or the Heavenly redeemed, that even in name we are not for¬ 
gotten. 


88 


EPHESIANS 


Ver. 16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of 
His glory (wealth) that ye may be strengthened with power 
through His Spirit in the inward man. 

We have all confidence that God will grant unto us the things 
the Holy Spirit here sets before us if we have not betrayed His 
trust. Paul is praying that we might receive from God accord¬ 
ing to the riches of His glory; that God, who is the source 
of all our wealth and who has purposed everything, should give 
us not only according to His riches in glory, but in addition 
to the riches of His glory, strength with His might. 

The Apostle himself is in prison. He has already cautioned 
his brethern not to faint because of his tribulations and here he 
carries his readers—the same persons—to God and asks that 
they might be strengthened with God’s strength. Christ said 
to his disabled servant, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Never 
did Paul rise to greater heights than at the very time he was 
smitten and all but destroyed by persecution, when through the 
power and influence of the Holy Spirit, he prays that all who 
read his message may enjoy the riches of His glory and may 
be able to endure with the strength from God. 

The Apostle emphasizes the inner man as the seat of in- 
vigoration. The world buffets, stones and imprisons, and mur¬ 
ders the Christian, while God gives victory and joy by infusing 
his Spirit with power and strength. The tired, weary and 
persecuted body of the prisoner Paul was a mark for the world’s 
scorn; however, there lives a strength of thought and will 
mightier than the empire of Caesar, a power of the Spirit. 

Ver. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; 
to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love. 

Here Christ’s residence in the heart is to be viewed, neither 
as the result or antecedent of the strength given to man. This is 
a unity effected by petition which results in His coming and 
making His abode within us. The heart of the Christian and 
the Church are both the Divine dwelling place. Faith is the 
condition without which neither the Spiritual life nor the in¬ 
dwelling of Christ can exist. It must be the faith of submissive 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 89 


trust in the Promisor which is the effecting and maintaining act. 

“That ye being rooted and grounded in love. ,, This must 
be closely connected with what precedes. Whoever is made 
strong by God’s Spirit must necessarily be rooted and grounded 
in love. Love is another name for the ordinary working of 
the Holy Spirit in the heart of man, and where God’s Spirit 
is, there is love. Love is the soil in which the Christian is 
rooted and the foundation on which he is grounded. 

Ver. 18. (That ye) may be strong to apprehend with all the 
saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. 

In this part, the Apostle is calling our attention to the fact 
of our membership in the great family of God and that God 
is rich and is able to make us rich according to His glory. Not 
only is He rich, but He is mighty, and the inner life can con¬ 
stantly be strengthened. Paul prays that we might have a wider 
range, a mighty strength of thought and faith and as redeemed, 
be perfectly assured of our footing. We ought to be able to 
understand in some respect this minute and very careful change 
that has come over us. 

Paul prays that we may be able to comprehend the depth 
of this Divine love—that which has just been named, the love 
of Christ, the love of God. It is this love expressed in the 
eternal and sovereign purpose of God, that no matter to what 
nation the individual may belong, and no matter to what depth 
of sin and degradation he may have sunken, a union is being 
formed by the miraculous power of God, to bring him into 
fellowship with this mystery. 

Ver. 19. And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowl¬ 
edge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God. 

“The love of Christ”—that which he did for love’s sake. 
All this passeth human understanding. However, we may know 
something of it, and know it more and more as we are 
strengthened by His Spirit, enlightened by faith, and rooted 
and grounded in this love. 

We have really come to the climax of the prayer offered 


90 


EPHESIANS 


here that all who are Christ’s through His death and resurrec¬ 
tion might be filled with all the fulness of God; that we might 
be filled with grace to approach more and more towards the 
perfection with which God alone is filled, “That ye may be so 
filled as God is filled.” 

“That which passeth knowledge,” if it is to be enjoyed by 
man, must come to him through some other channel than by 
the communication from man to man. This can come only 
from a superior to an inferior. 

Ver. 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abun¬ 
dantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that 
worketh in us. 

We know something about the power of God through His 
creation and redemption. The God who works within us is 
helping us to know what we do not know, and thus leading us 
on to greater knowledge that we could not realize without Him, 
and in this we can gain some idea of His omnipotence which 
is able to do and will do that which we cannot ask for or even 
think of. The Apostle knows that we ask for some things and 
we can think about some things, but he is beginning to realize 
that the Christian is in need of something he cannot ask for. 
He is in need of something that he cannot think of, and now 
he leads us into the confidence and conviction that even that 
is open to the Christian. This God who is ours, who has so 
miraculously set forth our Head and brought about a Body, 
the Church, which is being formed in this age of grace, is so 
intensely interested in all of us that He not only answers what 
we pray for, but He answers the unexpressed desires of the 
heart which cannot be put into human language. This is all 
done according to the power of God which worketh in us. 

Man cannot follow a power so great. It is beyond man’s 
reason. Prayer is not limited to man’s thought but goes out 
into the realms unknown in search of help and guidance. There 
is a mighty power at work within the heart of those who make 
much of their Spiritual lives. This power that is working 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STANDING 91 


within is unlimited. “Greater is He that is in you than he 
that is in the world.” 

Ver. 21. Unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ 
Jesus unto all the generations (of the age of the ages) for ever 
and ever. Amen. 

It is that Church whose splendor has been first brought to 
light by a union of Jews and Gentiles into His Body in Christ. 
No glory can be derived for the Church except it be a glory 
coming immediately from Christ the Head, or immediately 
from His mystical Body, through His members in so far as they 
are in Him. The Church that communicates strength and 
power to another must first receive such from Christ as the 
Head. 

“Unto the generation of the age of the ages.” All ages are 
the various periods from the beginning of time, and have run 
their course, thus adding dispensation to dispensation until 
Christ the Head of the Church shall receive the inheritance lost 
through disobedience and shall become King of Kings and 
Lord of Lords. We are living in a great age. We as the 
Body of Christ are separated unto the Gospel of God. God 
has called us, commanded us to deliver the message of the Head 
of the Church that the body might be made perfect and com¬ 
plete for the day of His coming. 

QUESTIONS 

At what verse does the prayer begin? 

Why the expression, “For this cause/’ in Ver. 1 and 14? 

What was Paul’s attitude in prayer before the Father? 

What persons comprise the membership of this family? 

Why does Paul call attention to the riches of His glory? 

What is the prayer of man who needs strength? 

How may Christ become the guest of each individual? 

Tell how a person may be made able to comprehend. 

What was promised to all saints? (Ver. 18). 

Tell us something of the love of Christ that we must know. 

What is the climax of Paul’s prayer? 

What is the extent of the glory? 






PART II 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 

(4:1-6:24) 

I N the first three chapters of this Epistle we studied the doc¬ 
trinal portion as to the Christian’s standing in Christ. The 
Christian that understands his right position in the Lord Jesus 
Christ needs to have very little concern as to his walk. The 
Apostle emphasized our true relation to the Head and to His 
Body by discussing two purposes of God. The first purpose 
set forth in the first chapter followed by a prayer was to in¬ 
form us what God did in order to have us as representatives 
of His Son, who is the Head of the Church and Head over all. 
Having obtained our relation with Him in this way, He is being 
seated in the Heavenlies, and we are known as seated with 
Him (Eph. 2:6). In the prayer offered we learn something 
of Paul’s anxiety for all those who are seated together in the 
Heavenlies to be in possession of wisdom and revelation and 
knowledge of Him in whom we are, so that we might be true 
representatives of Him who is our Head. 

The second purpose, the mystical Christ, the Church, Paul 
hinted at in Romans (16:25-27), and expounded the mystery 
in the third chapter of this book; a mystery known to God 
before the foundation of the world and never revealed until 
in the age of grace, to the Apostle of the Gentiles, that God 
through Christ is forming a Body by a New creation, from 
Jew and Gentile, a Church to be a habitation for Himself. Paul 
is anxious that those who are representing the Body might 
appreciate this relationship of member to member, and so after 
setting forth this unity of believers in the mystical Body, asks 
God, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, that all who are 

93 



94 


EPHESIANS 


in this Body may be able to comprehend just what God’s part 
is in the formation of the mystical Body of Christ. 

Now after knowing our position in the Head (we in Christ), 
and our privileges as member of His body (Christ in us), we 
have the practical working out of this, that our service and 
influence may be to the saved and lost, because of what God 
has done for us through Christ. 

I. Their Walk Among Themselves, 4:1-16 

The Apostle realizes the importance of right relationship 
in the Body in order that the right influence may go out from 
this society to the world, which ought to be won to Christ. 
The Early Church, from Pentecost on, was united under the 
leadership of the Holy Spirit and without any of the present 
external helps in which much confidence is placed, and it 
marched forward against every obstacle and was able to over¬ 
come because of this unity of purpose and leadership. This is 
what the Apostle Paul means to teach us is necessary if the 
Church is to exercise her rightful place and power in the world. 

1. WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING, 4:1-3 

Ver. 1. I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you 
to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called. 

The Apostle has just closed the former chapter with a 
prayer that the Church might be able to comprehend the pur¬ 
poses of God revealed in the age of grace. In the opening of 
the third chapter Paul represents himself as a prisoner for 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and here opens this paragraph, where he 
discusses the state of the Christian, with the same thought. 
The Apostle is willing to suffer as Christ suffered, even go to 
prison to show to the world what is the true enjoyment for 
those who are really in Christ Jesus. He is willing to be known 
as a prisoner of the Lord. How did he become a prisoner? 
It was by standing out boldly before the world and before the 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


95 


Roman government for the One whom the Jewish Church, 
by the permission of the world, had put to death. 

The Christian is to walk worthily. He is to do so because 
of His calling. This is the practical side of the Christian life, 
to show by our walk and conduct that we have received a right 
relationship to Jesus Christ by faith, and have the privilege 
of manifesting this before men. The Apostle, by going to 
prison, is manifesting the incarnation of Christ by his walk 
and conduct. It was in the Lord that he wore this heavy chain 
brought upon him in Christ’s service and borne joyfully for 
Christ’s sake. The tone of the Apostle’s letter at this time 
shows that he was sensible of the increased consideration which 
the affliction of the last few years had given to him in the 
eyes of the Church. 

The Apostle is speaking here about God’s part in our rela¬ 
tion to Him. The calling here is the same as presented in 
the first chapter (1:18). Jesus Christ, as the Head of the 
Church, was called before the foundation of the world and 
when He was called, the members who make up His Body were 
called; when He died, the members died; when He rose, the 
members of His Body rose; when He ascended, we who are in 
Him ascended and have our position in Him and are now 
seated with Him in the Heavenlies. In the Apostle’s prayer 
he asks God that the members of His Body may know the 
hope of his calling. If we know the hope of His calling, we 
are not so much concerned about our calling as the calling of 
our Head by which we establish the fact of our calling. 

We should expect these exhortations to unity from what 
we have learned in the previous chapter. Unity in the Church, 
brought about by constant persecution from the world and 
even from the professing Jewish Church, is a unity altogether 
different from that established at a time when persons are 
indifferent in their belief. 

Ver. 2. With all lowliness (humility) and meekness, with 
longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. 


96 


EPHESIANS 


Christ Himself, who is the Head of the Church, was lowly 
in heart. He had descended from Divine heights and knew the 
immeasurable distance between God’s infinite greatness and the 
limitations of human life. In taking the form of a servant 
He had also taken the spirit of a servant. He had come, not 
to do His own will, or to seek His own glory, but to do the 
will of God and to seek the glory of God. Now having taken 
upon Himself the form of man, He became absolutely dependent 
upon God, and His lowliness and humility of heart are the 
result of the consciousness of dependence on God, and of the 
vision of God’s majesty. 

Now how about ourselves? Our lowliness and humility 
are dependent upon the consciousness of sin. We are expressly 
commanded to forbear one another in love. There was great 
hate between the Jew and Gentile and now since the Body of 
Christ was formed by Jews and Gentiles, this exhortation was 
very necessary that enmity manifested by these people in their 
unregenerated state might not again show itself, but love, since 
the middle wall or partition is gone and they are made as One 
New Creation in Christ. 

The Apostle is addressing both Jew and Gentile as mem¬ 
bers of the Body of Christ. These people had received a com¬ 
mon blessing and each was bound to express relationship and 
love. The Jew must not look down upon the Gentile who had 
been so long an alien, and the Gentile must not retort upon 
the Jew, who had slain the Lord of glory. In order to prevent 
any controversy they must exercise humility, they must be 
long-suffering, patient and self-possessed under injustice. The 
real motive back of all this, the Apostle says, is love. Love is 
the sum and essence of all that promotes Christian unity. 

Ver. 3. Giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace. 

The Spirit dwelling within the Church (2:22) creates a 
oneness of feeling among all true members of the Church, 
because He animates each, and they become one with Him. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


97 


The Church is one; that is, the members of Christ become One 
New Man and thus express unity. 

When Paul wrote letters to the individual congregations, 
each separate church had authority over its own order, made 
its own discipline, elected its own bishops and organized its 
own worship. There was no federation of these individual 
churches under any ecclesiastical authority. That is, their unity 
was not constituted by an external organization, and the only 
unity which they possessed was the unity of the Spirit. It 
was by their common possession of the Spirit of God that this 
unity could be formed. 

The middle wall that kept Jew and Gentile apart was broken 
down and unity existed which was formed through a new crea¬ 
tion under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The different 
members of the Body of Christ, dwelling in these local organi¬ 
zations, were forming a family for God. There was the mani¬ 
festation of unity by the Holy Spirit. They were building 
upon the foundation of Christ and thus uniting in forming 
the habitation of God in the Spirit. 

“In the bond of peace.” Peace is indeed itself a condition 
corresponding alike with unity and love in the spiritual life 
and for the Church. First peace with God, then peace from 
God, and then peace of heart which is undisturbed by assaults, 
temptations, and ills of the world. Hence love is the bond that 
cherisheth peace in the Church. In the first three verses we 
have presented the temple in which the unity of the Church is 
to be maintained. Now in the next three verses (4-6) we have 
the basis upon which this unity rests (2: 20). 

QUESTIONS 

Why say “therefore” in the first verse? 

Why should a prisoner entreat those not prisoners to walk 
worthy? 

What calling is referred to in Ver. 1? 

How can unity be manifested between Jewish and Gentile 
Christians? 

Vol. 3—7 


98 


EPHESIANS 


2. UNITY OF THE BODY ITSELF, 4:4-6 

There are seven elements of unity enumerated by the 
Apostle: One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, 
one baptism, and one God and Father of all. They form a 
chain stretching from the Church on earth to the throne, and 
ending with one God and Father of all. They resolve them¬ 
selves into three, featuring the names of the Divine Trinity: 
the Spirit, the Lord, and the Father. The Spirit and the 
Lord are each connected by two kindred elements, while the 
One God and Father “is over all (His sovereign power), and 
through all (pervasive actions), and in all (His imminent 
presence).” 

Ver. 4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye 
were called in one hope of your calling. 

There is one body—the mystical body of Christ, the Chris¬ 
tian Church. The believers in Jesus Christ were so united in 
the Early Church that there was a marked difference between 
them and the world. That distinction became less visible in 
different periods of Church history. This marked difference 
between the Church and the world is now much less visible 
than in the period in which Paul lived. This is due, in a large 
measure, to the efforts made to unify creeds in a way not in 
harmony with the Scriptures. The only way by which unity, 
influence, and power can be obtained in the Christian Church 
is alone through the standardization of the Word of God. 
There is a religious belief transferred from one person to 
another than brings about this division which is not supported 
by the standard given to us by God in His Word. The nearer 
we get to the essentials of the truth and to the experiences of 
living Christian men, who are directed by the Word of God 
and guided by the Holy Spirit to obey the Word of eternal 
truth, the more we realize the existence of one body in the 
different church organizations. The Spirit of God dwells in 
the Church, which is the Body of Christ, through which unity 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


99 


(this one great blessed hope which is expressed by all true 
members of the Body) is manifested (Phil. 2:5). 

“In the one hope of your calling.” When they received 
their calling, they all alike, whatever was their nationality, were 
called in one and the same hope of eternal life. Let the Spirit 
which dwells in man depart, and the body becomes a corpse; 
so with the Body of Christ, and its members in particular. 
The question is, “Am I an integral living part of the church, 
quickened by that one Spirit?” The child of God seeks out 
his brethren, like is drawn to like, bone to bone, and sinew to 
sinew in the building up of the risen Body. Nothing holds 
people together like work and hope. The Church of Christ 
is a society for the abolition of sin and death, but not through 
education, reformation, or civilization. This must be brought 
about through regeneration. We look for a new Heaven and 
a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, while in this one 
Body, this new Creation, there is this one Spirit dwelling 
within us. It is one Lord who reigns over us. 

Ver. 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 

We have one hope for which to work and we have one faith 
by which to live. The Lord is the center of centers, the Lord 
in the midst of the throne, the Christ in the midst of the ages; 
united with Christ we are at unity with God and members of 
one united family. Now it is in this one Lord that we find 
unity. We cannot make ourselves the center, but Christ. Many 
men value Christ for what they can get from Him for them¬ 
selves. We must yield to Him for what He is. 

There is a subtle self-seeking and self-pleasing among the 
professing Christians to-day, and from this springs the dis¬ 
loyalty, the wanting of affection for the Church, the indifference 
among Christians, which accounts, in a large measure, for the 
indifference to the Word of Truth. Now Christ’s leadership 
over us for life and death is signified by our baptism in His 
name. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The same 
rites and the same forms, admit each and all into the Church, 


100 


EPHESIANS 


being the seal of the faith possessed in common by all in Him; 
a public demonstration that we have passed out of the old into 
the new. Christian baptism is no private transaction. It attests 
no secret passing between the soul and the Saviour, “for in one 
Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jew or Greek, 
whether bond or free, and we were all made to drink of one 
Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). 

Our baptism is the sign of the common faith and hope 
through which we have accepted Christ’s death as our death, 
and in our burial by baptism we bind ourselves to Him and 
to His Church. Christ said before He ascended, “Go ye 
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: 
and lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world” 
(Matt. 28:19-20). 

Ver. 6. One God and Father of all, who is over all, and 
through all, and in all. 

The Apostle, discussing the great need of unity, here pre¬ 
sents the different motives for it. If the simple teaching of 
the Scriptures is obeyed as presented here and in the sixth 
chapter of Romans, the members forming this Body of Christ 
will express this with great conviction, conscious that they are 
acting under the builder of the Church who is the one Lord, 
one God and Father of all. Belonging to this one body, being 
in possession of this one Spirit, and realizing this one hope, 
through faith in Him and under His command of death and 
burial, we worship together one God and Father of all, who 
is over all. We cannot worship one God for the Jews and 
another God for the Gentiles, but we can worship one God 
whether Jew or Gentile. God was the Father, even when we 
were alienated from Him; now much more when we are recon¬ 
ciled through the death of His Son. 

Here God is a sovereign power. He is over us all. He 
is the supreme ruler, and He has made it possible by our 



< < 




DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


101 


being members of this one Body to form a habitation for Him¬ 
self. Think of His plan in which the Holy Spirit presents 
Him with life and power which precedes everything material 
and we know that He is omnipresent, all powerful, yet at the 
same time He is dwelling in all of us. We need not go far to 
seek Him. If we believe in Him we are ourselves His Temple. 

QUESTIONS 

Name the seven elements of unity enumerated by Saint Paul. 

What is the meaning of one body? 

Show how unity may be maintained by what Paul teaches in 
Vers. 4-6. 


3. THE DIVERSITY OF GIFTS TO THE 

BODY, 4:7-11 

Paul has spoken about forming the united Body of Christ. 
The members have one and the same Body, one and the same 
Spirit, one and the same hope, one and the same Lord, one 
and the same faith, one and the same baptism, one and the 
same God. But the Apostle says, this is not all that is neces¬ 
sary. They have one and the same administration of the Spirit, 
a possession which differs in character from the rest. All 
belong to the body, all have their share of the Spirit, but all 
have not the function of administering the Spirit alike. This 
was given to individual recipients according as Christ chose to 
bestow. 

Ver. 7. But unto each one of us was the grace (favor) given 
according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 

The great gift of God in Himself is manifold in its dis¬ 
tribution. Now each member of the Body of Christ has its 
own function. The grace was given that we may each do our 
part toward building up the Body of Christ. Our functions 
are measured and determined by the light and power we receive 
from Christ for discharging them. God dispenses His wisdom, 
so Christ His gifts, according to His plan (3:11). The pur¬ 
pose of the ages, God’s great plan for mankind, determines the 


102 


EPHESIANS 


measure of the gift of Christ. In order to illustrate this, the 
Apostle brings into evidence the words of the Psalmist (68:18). 

Ver. 8. Wherefore He saith, When He ascended on high, He 
led captivity captive (led a multitude of captives) and gave gifts 
unto men. 

It is well to understand the occasion of this old Hebrew 
Psalm. It celebrates Jehovah’s entrance into Zion. This verse 
records one of the crowning events in Israel’s history, the 
capture of Zion from the rebellious Jebusites, and the Lord 
descended in person to His chosen ones to take His seat upon 
His holy hill. 

David’s going up here was to the Apostle’s mind a picture 
of the ascension of the Lord. David rose from the depth of 
humility to a high dominion. His exaltation brought blessings 
and enrichment to His people and the spoils that he had taken 
from the enemy went to build God’s house among rebellious 
men. In this the Apostle discloses the deeper import in his 
time of the Word of the ancient Scriptures. Here Paul takes 
the liberty of putting his own interpretation on these words. 
Here we have the threefold measure of Christ: First, they 
are the gifts of the ascended Saviour; second, they are bestowed 
from the fruits of His victory; third, they are gifts to all who 
form the Body of Christ. He has, so He gives; as He has 
given, so He will give, until we are filled unto all the fu’ness 
of God. 

Ver. 9. Now this, He ascended, what is it but that He also 
descended (first) into the lower parts of the earth? 

We have Christ exalted and seated in the Heavenlies. He 
has been victorious. He is about to bestow gifts unto the 
members who make up His Body, who represent Him here 
on earth. 

Ver. 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended 
far above all the Heavens, that He might fill all things. 

He is Lord of angels, but still more of men; Lord of the 
living and of the dead. From the depths of the grace to the 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


103 


highest heavens His mastership extends. Our security is in 
Christ. We can estimate in a sense the gifts that are ours 
through Christ because we derive this from His conquests 
already made—Jesus leading forth the multitude of captives. 
By a word Jesus addressed Saul at the highest point of his 
enmity and changed him from a Pharisee to an Apostle of 
the Gentiles, and from the destroyer to the wise master builder 
of His Church. 

Ver. 11. And he gave some to be apostles; and some, 
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. 

Paul begins with those occupying the most responsible posi¬ 
tion in the Church and concludes by naming persons who re¬ 
ceive gifts, but not of the same rank. Christ is bestowing 
gifts upon His Church. The persons upon whom He has 
bestowed gifts are not all included in this verse; some martyrs, 
some missionaries, some church rulers, some poets, some leaders 
of philanthropy and helpers of the poor, all are given for the 
same end. The Apostle does not promise to enumerate all the 
graces of the ministry. The first three in order: the prophets, 
apostles and evangelists, have for their general mission to serve 
the entire Body; the last two, pastors and teachers, have charge 
of local and congregational affairs. Many are the marvelous 
gifts bestowed in the Apostolic ministry. What a gift to the 
Christian community was Paul himself. He was a chosen 
vessel unto men. Many names could be mentioned of those 
who labored in the Church in different periods of her history 
upon whom were bestowed by Christ gifts for service. 

QUESTIONS 

Who bestowed the grace referred to in Ver. 7? 

On what condition is it held by the different members? 

What was Paul’s purpose in quoting from the Psalms? 

Give the teaching of the Scriptures in the Psalms from which 
this was taken. 

Who is to fill all things? 

Tell the mission of each officer named here. 


104 


EPHESIANS 


4. THE PURPOSE OF THE GIFTS BESTOWED BY 

CHRIST, 4: 12-16 

The Apostle has enjoined upon all members of the Body 
of Christ to walk worthy of their calling and then emphasizes 
the need of unity in the Church. In order to understand more 
fully the need of this unity, in the former paragraph we learn 
that Christ Himself is the giver of gifts to individual members 
of the Church for a specific purpose. This specific purpose is 
clearly stated in the paragraph we are now studying. 

Ver. 12. For the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of min¬ 
istering, unto the building up of the body of Christ. 

The Apostle emphasizes the fact that there is need of Chris¬ 
tian growth. He tells us that these gifts that are bestowed 
upon individuals are for the perfecting of the saints. This 
need is keenly realized by those who know what God sets forth 
in His Word. There is perhaps no greater imperfection ex¬ 
pressed in any calling as that in the professing church, and 
this perfection referred to by the Apostle can only be obtained 
through the right relationship of the officers of the Church, 
and a proper knowledge of God’s Word. This requires the 
deepening of our Spiritual life through God’s Word and prayer, 
that the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ might be edified. 

The apostles were called by Christ. They had the gifts to 
teach and to enforce that teaching by the working of miracles. 
They had been with Christ. They heard him teach, and saw 
the manifestation of His power, knew of His death and resur¬ 
rection, heard Him speak and saw Him at different times during 
the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension. 

The prophets shared with the Apostles in the revelation of 
the mystery of the Holy Spirit and it was their special task to 
expound this mystery to such as had been converted by apostolic 
teachings. The result was that they edified and comforted 
believers, and converted unbelievers to the truth of Christ and 
the Scripture. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


105 


The grace administered to evangelists was such that they 
had the power of convincing men of their sin until they cried 
unto Christ for deliverance. Their mission was to preach. 
They preached Christ crucified and took the good news from 
city to city. Timothy was also known to be an evangelist. 

Pastors and teachers had the mission of Spiritual edifica¬ 
tion. The four-fold grace of the Holy Spirit given to men 
by Christ, administered by the apostles, prophets, pastors and 
teachers, was not bestowed upon all Christians alike, but only 
upon those whom God willed. 

The Body of Christ is now in need of faithful men who 
“contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints.” 
If all the officers of the Church, ministers, and teachers could 
realize in all their service that it was for the perfecting of 
the Body, and that this could only come through loyalty to 
the Word of truth, then there would be greater sacrifice and 
consecration to the Master’s service. 

Ver. 13. Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of 
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto 
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. 

This unity of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the same as 
expressed in Ver. 5. The Church of God has something definite 
and positive to accomplish. The gifts enumerated in the former 
verse, bestowed upon members of the Body of Christ, are to 
bring about a cooperative efficiency and to further its general 
growth. The purpose of these endowments sets a limit to their 
use. Christ just gave Apostles, prophets, and others the posi¬ 
tions enumerated here, till we all arrive at our perfect man¬ 
hood, and reach the stature of His fulness. Such no doubt is 
the connection of Ver. 13, with the context just preceding. 
The Christian ministry makes itself superfluous when it attempts 
to raise men beyond its need. 

Knowledge and prophesying, evangelism and teaching will 
one day cease. This work will be done, but not until the unitv 
of faith and the perfecting of the saints is accomplished. The 
work of Christ’s servants can have no grander aim, no further 


106 


EPHESIANS 


goal beyond this. Here is the real mission of every one that 
is called by our Captain, the Head of the Church. There are 
many of these officials in the different churches .giving more 
time and means in leading the followers of the lowly Lamb of 
God into commercialism and industrial pursuits, instead of con¬ 
centrating upon the things presented to us by the Head of the 
Church through the Holy Spirit in this church Book given to 
us for our training, “unto the unity of faith and the perfecting 
of the saints.” 

Let every student of this text-book ask himself this ques¬ 
tion, “How much of my time and means am I using to promote, 
increase, and unify the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ? Am 
I obtaining a fuller knowledge of the Son of God and using 
every possible means to help others obtain the same knowledge ?” 

This definite work of Christ given for His Church to accom¬ 
plish can only be secured through the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit. This unity can be maintained by persons who are in 
possession of these gifts, by the persons realizing that these 
gifts are from Christ, that they must be used for Christ, and 
for the purpose for which they were given. If this be followed, 
then there will be no jealousy existing between members who 
have not the same responsible gifts bestowed upon them. If 
those in possession of these gifts do their utmost in performing 
the things stated here, then the work of the Church will be 
progressing rapidly and all the lay members will begin to realize 
more fully the mission that each is to perform in this great 
work of building the Body of Christ. Now it is in vain to 
accomplish the thing that Christ mentions here through any 
other way. 

Ver. 14. That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fio 
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of 
men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error. 

A. V. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and 
fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine (teaching), by 
the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in 
wait to deceive. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


107* 


“Tossed to and fro” just like the waves of the sea and 
carried about, not knowing what the end will be. This describes 
more closely the experiences felt in the Church, inclusive of 
the false teachers who appeared and will appear. They are 
tossed as the waves with every wind of doctrine or teaching. 
The wind has a great variety. Teaching is included under the 
figure of wind, because it is something indefinite, and because 
the wind in proportion to its strength and free situation of the 
water, stirs the ripples to foam, so the teaching sets in motion 
the spirit of the person which is tossed so easily to and fro; 
but the real child of God will hear and know the proper way 
to perfection. 

“By the sleight of men” using every possible means to de¬ 
ceive and mislead. These men play with religion and with the 
welfare of Christian souls. This metaphor accords admirably 
with the restless waves and uncertain winds just preceding it. 

“And cunning craftiness.” This is connected with the 
previous phrase and gives prominence to what the latter does 
not indicate—the conscious malice. It is to come upon in a 
sneaking manner, premeditated, pre-arranged by system; to 
mislead. The Apostle refers to the teachers against whom he 
had warned the Ephesians three years ago, the men who should 
arise out of themselves, speaking perverse things, to draw away 
disciples toward them (Acts 20:30). The Apostle warns against 
deceivers in writing to the Colossians, the Ephesians and to 
his Spiritual son, Timothy. How easily some professing Chris¬ 
tian people are led away by every ism that is introduced. They 
yield to the prevailing tendency of speculative thought. Think 
of the reckless pilots steering ignorant souls this way and that, 
over the wind-swept sea of religious doubt, bringing them at 
last to the same rocks and quick-sand. 

“Whereby they lie in wait to deceive them.” These de¬ 
ceivers, under the leadership of Satanic influence, are often 
found more active in the promotion of doubt, than the pro¬ 
fessing Christians are in the promulgation of truth. 


108 


EPHESIANS 


Ver. 15. But speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things 
into Him, which is the Head, even Christ. 

This being truthful, loving, manly, steadfast in the truth, 
and making a bold defense of it when assailed, is opposed to 
the childish weakness that gives ear to every new thing and 
allows itself to be beguiled by unreasonable arguments and those 
which have false systems to define. This steadfastness and 
boldness of faith of the Christian, is to .be joined with charity, 
which would not give offense by unnecessary harshness, and 
convinces the opposer that the motives of opposition are simply 
for the claims of truth and the love of souls. This means 
more than simply the truth of speech as it includes the deed 
and life. The expression here resembles that of 1 John 3:19: 
“We are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him.” 
Truth and love are found in like union. 

The Christian ought to cultivate and instruct himself in 
Divine truth to guard against counterfeits in thought and life. 
The Apostfe was separated unto the Gospel of God. The 
Gospel of God is the truth, and if the minister of the Gospel 
speaks the truth of God, the unadulterated truth, then the child 
of God will grow in faith and love and be steadfast, no matter 
what temptations may assail. 

“May grow up into Him.” The mystical Body made up 
of the members referred to here, is to grow up to the standard 
of the Head, fully developed, and that is so that there may be 
symmetry between the two, Head and Body. 

Ver. 16. From whom all the body fitly framed and knit 
together, through that which every joint supplieth, according to 
the (effectual) working in due measure of each several part, maketh 
the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. 

The grace of God in the ministry of the Body is so that 
perfection might be reached in the Body for the Head. But 
it is only by being attached to the Head and dependent upon 
it that it can thus make increase in itself. Detached from the 
Head it cannot grow. Here the emphasis is put upon unity. 
It is the whole body “fitly joined and framed together and 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


109 


compacted.” This describes the Church in its present develop¬ 
ment. In such a union the Church is conceived because it is 
building a society, a congregation. Here we have the means 
and condition of its growth. It is first as One New Man, a 
body collected, and as members of that body, individual aspects 
are present. We must then unite on the oneness of faith, our 
knowledge of the Son of God, and we must attain, each of us, 
a perfect manhood, the measure of the standard of the fulness 
of Christ. The one faith of the Church’s foundation (Ver. 5) 
is at the same time its end and goal. It is the living faith to 
all hearts in the same Christ and Gospel. When we all believe 
heartily in the Word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation, the 
goal will be in sight. All our deficiencies are at the bottom, 
deficiencies of faith. We fail to apprehend and appropriate the 
fulness of God in Christ. 

Faith is the essence of the hearer’s life. The Son of God 
is the center object of all faith and of the church life. The 
danger assailing the church and division threatening its unity, 
touches the person of Christ, and whatever touches the Head 
affects the health of the body and well-being of every member 
of it. Many are receiving the blessing of Christ, and yet the 
knowledge of Him as the Son of God is very imperfect. Now 
this ignorance expresses their faith, and they are blinded by 
the plausible errors in the church and are dazzled by the 
philosophy of empty deceit. When we have differences con¬ 
cerning the person of Christ, then we have differences on the 
fundamentals. There is a great gulf fixed between those who 
worship and those who do not worship the Son of God. We 
need a truer faith and a better knowledge of Christ in order 
to unite believers to one another, and at the same time to develop 
in each a purer character. 

Jesus Christ was the perfect man. In Him we have attained 
our nature without the least flaw or failure, through which we 
are to glorify God. In Jesus Christ unity rests on its ideal 
standard, and we know what is the pure level of our nature. 


110 


EPHESIANS 


Now we know that we are predestined to be conformed to 
the image of God’s Son. 

QUESTIONS 

What is the contrast in the opening of Ver. 14? 

Are we safe to follow those tossed to and fro? 

Name some false doctrines that are being taught now. 

Tell the preparation necessary to successfully meet all 
deceivers. 

How may we grow up in Him? 

Show the relation between the Head and the body. 

Why illustrate Ver. 15, by referring to the physical image 
in Ver. 16? 


II. Their Walk Among Others, 4:17-32 

1. THE WALK OF THE GENTILES—THE 

OTHERS, 4:17-19 

Christ has called into existence and formed around Him¬ 
self a new creation, a new body, One New Man, here in this 
world. It is known as the light of the world and the salt of 
the earth. Now the members of this new society must walk 
as representing Christ and not as members of the world. Paul 
does not say here “as the other Gentiles.” Many are in the 
church, although Gentiles by birth, and now of the household 
of faith and the society of God, who manifest but little change 
of walk. The Apostle John in his Epistle, though a born Jew, 
yet from the standpoint of this new creation—new body— 
writes of the Jews, as a distinct and alien people. 

Ver. 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that 
ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their 
mind. 

The Apostle calls attention to the important lessons of 
Church unity and Church instruction (4:2-16); and now this 
unity and perfection of the saints should be so expressed in 
the presence of others that others might be drawn unto the 
Body of Christ. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


111 


Here we have special emphasis placed upon this truth, “that 
ye no longer walk as Gentiles.” In this period of the church, 
there were some who bore Christ’s name and made a profes¬ 
sion to have learned of Christ, and yet walked contrary. This is 
what he says in another of the prison Epistles (Phil. 3:18-19), 
“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell 
you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of 
Christ: whose end is perdition, whose God is their belly, and 
whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” We 
cannot but associate this warning with the apprehension ex¬ 
pressed in Ver. 14, concerning the reckless and unscrupulous 
teachers, against whose evil influence the Apostle guarded the 
infant church of Asia Minor. 

The Christians at Ephesus had been breathing from their 
childhood the vile atmosphere of corrupt heathenism and were 
still surrounded by this same kind of influence. In the com¬ 
munity which surrounded them, the grossest vices were un¬ 
rebuked by public sentiment. Now when they came into the 
church, they did not break at once from their old heathen habits. 
Some, no doubt, received the Gospel in its fulness and others 
only in part. Out of the old world of Gentile society have 
come those who are transformed into this new creation. The 
world in which the Christians once lived in the flesh, is dead 
to them. They have been partakers of the regenerated unity 
constituted in Christ Jesus. 

The Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, hardened 
in their understanding. They have no clear and settled prin¬ 
ciples ; no sound theory of life. Paul wrote the same thing to 
the people at Rome (Romans 1:21). 

Ver. 18. Being darkened in their understanding, alienated 
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, 
because of the hardening (blindness) of their heart. 

They followed after the things that lead into darkness, 
and help to darken the understanding. Heathen men have 
lost the knowledge of God and, therefore, lost the steadfast¬ 
ness and eternal grace of righteousness. The heathen are 


112 


EPHESIANS 


living in the midst of things seen and temporal, not among 
things unseen and eternal. They are darkened in their under¬ 
standing. Darkness and death go together. 

Man was so created that the root of his perfection is in 
God, but when the knowledge of God is lost, the life of God 
is lost. The heathen are living in moral darkness in which the 
love of God cannot be felt. They are separated and estranged, 
"alienated from the life of God.” That is, from the life which 
is imparted to fallen man, which continues to animate man 
as long as he is in communion with God. 

"Because of the hardening of their heart.” That is, their 
increasing moral insensibility, which is the real cause of their 
ignorance. Man without God is in darkness. Poor creatures 
they are, who want to know whether life is worth living. Many 
have gained the world but lost the soul. We are only beginning 
to learn how much was meant when Jesus Christ announced 
himself as the light of the world—a light to shine through all 
the elements of human life. 

Ver. 19. Who being past feeling gave themselves up to las¬ 
civiousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness (eagerness). 

They had ceased to be sensitive to obligation of truth, of 
honesty, of kindness, of purity. They committed the grossest 
vices and were conscious of no shame. Their sin was, therefore, 
gross and habitual. They were not betrayed into sin against 
their better purposes. They sinned deliberately, and without 
any protest from their reason and conscience. They gave them¬ 
selves up. It was an act done with set purpose and by consent 
of their nature. 

This is a horrible picture, but Paul was describing the men 
among whom he had lived and among whom the Christians of 
Ephesus were living still. It was surprising that with such a 
moral environment, the Christians at Ephesus, whom a few 
years before had been heathen men themselves, required the 
ethical teaching contained in the epistle. 

"Greediness.” This is excessive indulgence, both of appetite 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


113 


and love of money, which is nothing but an outgrowth of the 
spirit of heathenism or darkness, and until there is more than 
reformation in religion, the same spirit will manifest itself in 
the progressing Christian church. 

QUESTIONS 

Why say “therefore” in Ver. 17? 

What is the source of Paul’s information? 

How did these Gentiles walk before regeneration? 

What is the duty of the regenerate ones to the unregenerate? 

How may persons become alienated from the life of God? 

Give examples in this church age that fit the description of 
Ver. 19. 

2. METHOD OF REGENERATION, 4:20-24 

In these verses, the two human types are presented as the 
old man and the new. The one must be put off and the other 
must be put on. 

In the preceding paragraph, the Apostle described the gross 
corruptness in the heathen world, and to this same corrupt 
society the Ephesian Christians had belonged. He could have 
said to them as he had said to the Christians at Corinth, that 
persons who are guilty of such misdemeanors cannot inherit 
the Kingdom of God. The Gospel was preached for the purpose 
of giving new hope and courage, new light and strength to 
those who were seeking for light and not able to find it among 
unregenerate manhood. 

Ver. 20. But ye did not so learn Christ. 

He points us away from the dark description of heathenism 
to what a person receives by accepting Jesus Christ. When we 
learned about the Christ and accepted Him by faith, we could 
not remain in the darkness and filth of our former Gentile 
state. The present state of the Gentiles who are members of 
the Body of Christ is altogether different from that in which 
they lived before they had learned the Christ. When they 
learned Christ, they became Christ’s disciples. They had 

Vol. 3—8 


114 


EPHESIANS 


listened to Christian teachers, and to those who knew the 
truth; not to unprincipled teachers as expressed in Ver. 14. 
There are real and supposed conversions; there are false and 
true ways to learn of Christ. Paul presumes that his readers 
have duly learned the Christ. They have not only believed in 
Christ but have learned the Christ. They have found the 
treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ. 

Ver. 21. If so be that ye heard him, and were taught in Him, 
even as truth is in Jesus. 

Christ is represented here as the one who speaks to the 
disciples, those who hear the Master, the great Teacher, 
although they have never seen Him while in the flesh. The 
truth is in Jesus. He Himself is the truth. All of these 
great Church Epistles are the lessons that Christ Himself 
teaches and all who learn these lessons are really taught by 
Christ. This is what gives weight and authority to the lessons 
that were assigned for the Church in the age of grace. Christ 
is the author of this truth. He gives this truth through the 
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit used the Apostle Paul as a 
channel through which He has spoken and written; so all true 
disciples have heard Christ, and have been taught by Christ 
and know the truth of Christ. 

Paul was at Ephesus about eight years before, and we read 
from Acts (19:1-7) that he found certain disciples there who 
had been baptized by John’s baptism, but had not received the 
Holy Spirit or even heard of such a thing. Apollos formerly 
belonged to this company and had preached and taught care¬ 
fully the things about Jesus Christ, while he knew only the 
baptism of John. However, the ready acceptance of Paul’s 
fuller Gospel by this little circle indicated that their knowledge 
of the Christ was only by definition. They had received it from 
Judea. They had only a partial knowledge of Jesus, and that 
is much the difficulty of the Church at the present day. Paul 
now proceeds to develop the truth which he presents to the 
Christians at Ephesus: 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


115 


Ver. 22. That ye put away, as concerning your former man¬ 
ner of life, the old man, which waxeth corrupt after the lusts of 
deceit. 

This is what regeneration means: putting off and putting 
on; the appropriation of the righteousness of the Christ and 
holiness, and reception of a new and perfect humanity which 
God brings us through Christ. This is a precious truth in 
Christ Jesus. There must be a complete moral revolution which 
can only be brought about through Him who offers righteous¬ 
ness and gives us security through justification. The man in 
Christ Jesus has put off the Old Man. Through faith in Christ 
he has put the Old Man away once for all, and now simply 
trusting God’s own Word for it, has forever done with his 
former manner of life, and reckons himself, “dead indeed unto 
sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 
6:11). This is the only foundation on which to rear a fruitful 
and blessed Christian life. 

Ver. 23. And that ye be renewed in the Spirit of your mind 

i 

In the former paragraphs we have had the conduct of the 
Old Man described; now, in this and the next verse, we have 
presented to us the character of the New Man. We have put 
off the Old and now must put on the New. The New Man 
to be put on is of a new order. He is put on when the Christ 
way of life is accepted. When we enter personally into the 
new unity with Christ, we put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 
13:14) who comforts us. 

Ver. 24. And put on the new man, which after God hath 
been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. 

Two distinct conceptions of the faith are passed before our 
minds. It consists of the one Old nature and of the quickened 
New nature; one to be put off and the other to be put on. It 
is the investure of a soul with a Divine character. We have two 
figures of speech in this single transaction: putting off (Ver. 
22) and putting on. “If any man is in Christ there is a new 
creation. The old things are passed away; behold they are 


116 


EPHESIANS 


become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). When man accepts Christ, then 
God works. A creative renewal takes place in the Spirit of 
our mind. That is, in the depths of our inner man which will 
and must penetrate through the whole life, spirit, soul and body, 
to result in a walk of righteousness and true holiness. “We are 
to make Christ’s humility ours, His courage ours, and His 
abhorence of sin ours. We are to make His perfect faith in 
the Father ours, and His perfect obedience to the Father’s 
authority ours, His delight in doing the Father’s will ours, and 
His zeal of the Father’s glory ours.” 

The new creation after the image of God takes place but 
once. It took place on the occasion of the conversion of the 
Ephesians and their admission into the Church. We learn from 
this passage that the image of God that is received by regenera¬ 
tion and re-creation is righteousness and holiness. 

QUESTIONS 

Why say, “Ye have so learned”? 

How can we hear Christ? 

How tan we be taught by Him? 

How can we come in possession of the truth that is in others? 

What is real practical about the Christian’s conversation? 

Why is the unregenerated conversation called the former? 

What does the Christian have to put off? 

What does he have to put on? 

What does the person receive who puts on the new man? 

3. SPECIAL TRAITS OF THE NEW WALK, 

4:25-32 

From the fundamental truths of this regeneration and daily 
renewal (2 Cor. 4:16) in which they had been all along in¬ 
structed, the author proceeds to draw practical conclusions. 

Ver. 25. Wherefore, putting away falsehood (lying), speak 
ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of 
another. 

We are to walk no longer in any of the ways of the Gentiles, 
which is shown by the negative and positive side in the former 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


117 


verses. If regeneration has taken place and we have put on 
the Christ and we have constant life by the Spirit in this new 
nature, then the vices that are following must belong to the 
fruits of the Old man, and not to the New. 

“Putting away lying.” Rather, having put away lying when 
we were regenerated. Truth telling is an essential and funda¬ 
mental quality of the follower of Christ. We are members 
one of another and therefore we must speak the truth to one 
another and to our neighbors. There cannot be unity unless 
it is based on truth telling. Those who have the regenerated 
life surely can not be guilty of lying and theft and anger 
and idle speech and greed. 

Ver. 26. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down 
(set) upon your wrath. 

“Stand in awe and sin not” (Ps. 4:4). That there is an 
indignation that is righteous is the teaching of all systems 
of sound morality. The conditions under which this righteous 
anger becomes sinful, are presented in a sermon by Bishop 
Butler on “Resentment.” They are: 

(1) When from partiality to ourselves, we imagine an 
injury done us when there is none, (2) When this partiality 
represents it to us greater than it really is, (3) When we feel 
resentment on account of pain or inconvenience without injury, 
(4) When indignation rises too high, (5) When pain or harm 
is inflicted to gratify that resentment, though naturally raised. 

Anger in itself is not sinful, but anger must not be suffered 
to break out into violence. It must be kept within the control 
of conscience and reason. However, in the first moments of 
great anger there is wrath. We are excited, our blood is hot, 
we are exasperated, we are thus tempted, and sin. 

“Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” The reasons 
as well as the acts of quarrel were to be done with by set of 
sun. Evening calls you to bid your brother farewell and to 
meet your God in solitude. We are the Body of Christ, the 
Holy temple, and should fortify ourselves against every 
approach of the spirit of wickedness. 


118 


EPHESIANS 


Ver. 27. Neither give place to the devil. 

Sinful anger brings even the Christian’s heart into the power 
of Satan, from whom he was freed, destroying the fellowship 
with the Redeemer and His grace. Let us dismiss each day’s 
vexations, commending as evening falls, our cares and griefs, 
to the divine compassion, seeking as for ourselves, so for those 
who have done us the wrong, forgiveness and a better mind. 

Ver. 28. Let him that stole, steal no more: but rather let 
him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that 
he may have whereof to give to him that hath need. 

Paul now passes from anger to theft. This may be true 
of the unregenerated, uncontrolled Old Man, but not of the 
New. Paul included laziness and idleness as the beginning of 
the ground to theft. The hand should now do the good that 
in its proper time and place must be done, then there will be 
something to bestow upon the needy. 

The Apostle brings the loftiest motives to bear instantly 
upon the basest natures and is sure of a response. He makes 
no appeal to self-interest, he says nothing of the fear of punish¬ 
ment. The appeal was as wise as it was bold. You may preach 
culture, self-improvement, thrift, show the pleasure of an or¬ 
dered home and the advantages of respectability, man will still 
feel that his own way of life pleases and suits him best. How¬ 
ever, when the divine spark of love is kindled in the breast, 
the man will have love and pity and not self to work for, 
because he becomes a new creature in Christ. His indolence is 
conquered, his meanness changed to a sense of good, and he 
experiences the blessed truth spoken by the Lord Jesus, “It is 
more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). 

Ver. 29. Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, 
but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may 
give grace to them that hear. 

We had passed from speech to temper, and now we are back 
to speech again. Jesus Christ laid great stress upon the exercise 
of the gift of speech (Matt. 15:11). By the words you speak 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


119 


you shall be justified and by thy words condemned. The posses¬ 
sion of a human tongue is a great responsibility. Infinite good 
or evil lies in its power. Jesus Christ said that for every idle 
word man must give account to God. The Apostle does not 
simply forbid injurious words, he puts an embargo on all that 
are not useful. It is not enough to say that “my chatter does 
nobody harm.” If you cannot speak to profit, be silent till you 
can. 

Paul does not refer here simply to personal conversation, 
but even the ministering of grace unto the hearers in the con¬ 
gregation. “Let it not proceed out of your mouth.” It is in 
opposition to every serious listener; it is an injury to himself. 
Above all he says to grieve not the Holy Spirit. The Holy 
Spirit is a messenger, bringing messages from the Lord Jesus 
Christ to be delivered to the congregation, and when the agent 
brings messages of his own and does not honor the truth of 
the Spirit, he is the one who grieves the Holy Spirit. 

Ver. 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye 
were sealed unto the day of redemption. 

Paul told us when we were sealed (1:13), and now tells 
us how long we are sealed. We were sealed at the time of 
accepting Christ through death and burial and when we were 
adopted into that new Body. We have since been in intimate 
fellowship, and because of this there should prevail among the 
members, the thought of being sealed together unto the day of 
redemption. 

The witness of the Holy Spirit is the seal of God's possession 
in us. This seal need never be broken and the witness withheld 
“until the day of redemption.” Dwelling with the Church and 
loving us with the love of God, the Spirit of grace is hurt and 
grieved by foolish words coming from lips that He has sanc¬ 
tified. Let us grieve before the Holy Spirit that He be not 
grieved with us for such offences. Let us pray evermore. “Set 
a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; keep the door of my 
lips” (Ps. 141:3). 


120 


EPHESIANS 


Ver. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, 
and railing, be put away from you, with all malice. 

Here we have a comprehensive conclusion in which Ver. 31 
gives the negative side and Ver. 32 the positive side. The 
Apostle has, in the previous part, shown to us that love is the 
remedy of disorder which includes falsehood, anger, theft, mis¬ 
use of the tongue, all of which are against the welfare of others. 
It is now time to deal directly with this evil that assumes so 
many forms, the most various of our sins and companion to 
every other. These are to be put away from the member of 
the Body of Christ. This bitterness is internal, concealed in 
the heart. Wrath is internal, passionate, moving of the temper 
in selfishness. Anger presents itself against a particular person 
with the purpose of hurting him. 

“Clamor.” Those mentioned before in this verse are internal 
and concealed in the heart, but here we have the breaking out 
of that which is within and becomes known to the onlooker and 
manifested by loud tones and by words uncontrolled by the 
person uttering them. 

“Evil speaking.” That baser result of passion which leads 
men to revile and attack the reputation of those with whom they 
are angry. 

“Be put away from.” These cannot be put away unless 
one is in the control of One stronger than himself. 

The last of these terms is the most typical, “malice,” the 
badheartedness or malignity from which all evil-doing proceeds. 
This verse contains not only a catalogue, but a melancholy 
genealogy of bad passions. The sins marked here were rife 
in the heathen society and there were, no doubt, some among 
Paul’s readers who found it hard to forego their former in¬ 
dulgences. This was especially difficult when Christians suf¬ 
fered all manner of evil from their heathen neighbors and 
former friends. It cost a severe struggle to be silent and “keep 
the mouth as with a bridle” under fierce and malicious taunts. 

Ver. 32. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, for¬ 
giving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


121 


This is the positive side. The antithesis here is strongly 
marked at the very start and opens the positive things for the 
Christians to do. There must be fellowship. This must take 
the place of malice with its brood of bitter passions. Injury 
cannot be met with reviling and insult. Those who have the 
new life will be found forgiving one another even as God 
forgave them. Here we begin to touch the spring of Christian 
virtue, the master motive in the Apostle’s theory of life. The 
sacrifice on Calvary, while it was the ground of our salvation, 
supplies the standard and incentive of moral attainment. Jesus 
said, “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless 
them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use 
you and persecute you” (Luke 6:27, 28). 

Before the cross of Christ was set up, men could not know 
how much God loved the world and how far He was ready 
to go in the way of forgiveness. Christ himself says the same 
love is displayed in the Father’s daily providence (Matt. 
6:25-32). The Father’s love and the Son’s self-sacrifice are 
altogether of the same quality. It is an offering and a sacrifice. 
Christ’s feet followed the stern and straight path of self-devo¬ 
tion. He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death 
(Phil. 2:8). He was born under the law (Gal. 4:4). That 
law of God imposed death as the penalty for sin and shaped 
Christ’s sacrifice and made it acceptable unto God. 

The persons referred to here have already been regenerated 
and adopted, having put off the Old Man and put on the New 
Man. With this new man they have the new spirit, or Christ 
spirit, and it ought to be easy to forgive one another, especially 
when they have presented to them the model as shown in the 
conclusion of this verse—“Even as God for Christ’s sake hath 
forgiven you.” If we take God’s dealings with us as a model 
for our dealing with our neighbors, there will be no room in 
the heart for the things presented in the negative side (Ver. 31). 

There is and there must be a great difference between Chris¬ 
tian culture and that of the world. The world’s culture leaves 
the old humanity untouched and only whitewashes it. Christ’s 


122 


EPHESIANS 


culture ennobles a man from the foundation up, and through 
regeneration gives him a new nature, the Divine mind and 
substitutes unselfishness for selfishness. 

QUESTIONS 

Why, according to Ver. 25, should everyone speak the truth? 

How can you be angry and not sin? If you do sin, what are 
you commanded to do? 

How can you tell when a person gives place to the Devil? 

What does Paul suggest is better than stealing? 

What good advice does Paul give in Ver. 29, to those who 
speak in prayer-meeting and from the pulpit? 

Tell how we may grieve the Holy Spirit. 

Who seals the Christian? 

What is the day of redemption? 

What commandments are broken by those guilty of things 
mentioned in Ver. 31? 

III. Three Points of View for the New Walk, 5:1-14 

The subject pursued in these fourteen verses is to show 
Christ’s supreme example of self-sacrifice, purity, and reproof 
of darkness by light. 

1. LOOK ABOVE THYSELF TO FOLLOW GOD, 

5:1-2 

Ver. 1. Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. 

The argument passes unbroken from the previous words. 
Become then imitators of God in respect to freely giving and 
forgiving and loving one another. This can be done because 
those who are renewed are beloved children and have one com¬ 
mon Father, who paid the ransom by giving His own Son. All 
human duties for those who love God are subordinated to one 
standard. 

Ver. 2. And walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and 
gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an 
odour of a sweet smell. 

We can easily walk in love if we can realize the fact that 
God has forgiven us. We have been told that we are to walk 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


1 26 


in love. “Even as Christ loved you.” So walk. This is the 
true standard of life. “God commendeth His love toward us 
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 
5:8). God the Father gave (John 3:16); God the Son gave, 
and this high standard the Apostle sets before us. When Christ 
died He gave His life, not as a model for our imitation, but 
as a ransom for our redemption (1 John 2:2). So if we walk 
in love, we follow Him and count not our lives dear unto our¬ 
selves, “for whosoever will save his life, shall lose it, but who¬ 
soever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel’s, the 
same shall save it” (Mark 8:35). All the sacrificial offerings 
of the old dispensation pointed forward to one true sacrifice for 
sin and was fulfilled in Him who gave Himself up for us. 

“To God for an odour of a sweet smell.” This refers to 
the offerings made unto God as described in the book of 
Leviticus, which are all fulfilled in the one offering of Christ. 
It is that which is inhaled, an odour of a sweet smell (Cp. 2 Cor. 
2: 15). Here we also are a sweet savor of Christ, to the world 
of saints and sinners in our self-forgetting devotion and sacri¬ 
ficial service. 

QUESTIONS 

How may we become imitators of God? 

Why are they called dear children? 

Give meaning of “walking in love.” 

How much has Christ loved us? 

What expressed God’s satisfaction of the offering and sacrifice 
in Christ? 

2. LOOK WITHIN THYSELF AND THINK OF 

PURITY, 5:3-5 

Ver. 3. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, 
let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints. 

Those who dwell in the love of God and are followers of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, such as fornication, and uncleanness, 
should not even be named among them. The sweet smelling 
savour of the sacrifice of Calvary, so pleasing in Heaven, that 
sweetness of life on earth, which drives away selfishness and 


124 


EPHESIANS 


passion comes only to those who are pure in heart. Lust, we 
are sure, cannot breathe in the sight of the cross. 

“Or covetousness,” which expressed the greed in commer¬ 
cialism. The covetous commit idolatry with their money, and 
the lustful with their flesh. The covetous man imagines that 
because he restrains himself from many vices, he is safe. 
Covetousness is something more difficult to recognize, hence 
more perilous to the soul (Col. 3:5). Covetousness: the Greek 
word occurs in 4:19 and there translated in the authorized 
version “greediness.” The root idea is to grasp after another’s 
own, whatever it may be, money, property, or person. 

“As becometh saints.” Saints are those who contend for 
the faith once delivered unto them. The saints are active rep¬ 
resentatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have their stand¬ 
ing in Christ and their walk must be in harmony with the Head. 
A very good scripture to study in connection with this verse is 
2 Peter 3:11, “Seeing then, that all these things shall be dis¬ 
solved, what manner of person ought ye to be in all holy con¬ 
versation and godliness.” 

Ver. 4. Nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which 
are not befitting (convenient): but rather giving of thanks. 

The vices must all disappear. Impurity of action or speech, 
talking and jesting are to disappear as completely as covetous¬ 
ness and the grosser vices. These are not befitting. They do 
not at all harmonize with the character of saints as described 
in God’s Word. Foolish talking is that of a man who is in¬ 
sensible to the graver aspects of human life. This can only 
come by and through the Old Man and allowing the Devil to 
have the rule over one’s life. Those who live near the throne 
of God will not enjoy the association of those who are engaged 
in this kind of conversation. A person engaged in loose speech, 
easily becomes vulgar, and loose speech easily becomes foolish 
speech. Instead of being engaged in this conversation there 
should be a giving of thanks. 

The Ephesian Christians had come out of heathenism and 
to them the service of false Gods was the one sin which repre- 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


125 


sented the dark and evil life from which they had been de¬ 
livered by the power and grace of God. Paul told them that 
the covetous man is an idolator. He is unredeemed from his 
old heathen life and has not passed in as a member of the 
Body of Christ. 

Ver. 5. For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor 
unclean person, nor covetous man, which is an idolater, hath any 
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 

Here Paul adds another and stronger reason why the vices 
mentioned should not be even named among them. If they 
share the sins of these unregenerate, they will also share the 
doom. This you can learn by observation as well as from the 
Scriptures, that such as are guilty of the vices named herein 
are not in possession of the Blessed hope. Every fornicator, 
unclean or covetous man, by so doing, is known as an idolator 
and therefore hath no inheritance. Who is an idolator? This 
class is to be named in connection with each of the sins men¬ 
tioned before. It is not the covetous man alone who is 
idolatrous, lusting after this world, and if to God covetousness 
is more specially idolatry, then the other sins are but more 
subtle forms of this. Paul told the Ephesians that they had 
obtained an inheritance (1:11) and received its earnest (1:14), 
and yet here he tells them that they have no inheritance if they 
are guilty of this uncleanness, showing that what they thought 
was regeneration was not regeneration. 

“In the Kingdom of Christ and of God” means when God 
and Christ is ruler, and people belong to Him. Then fruits of 
the Spirit are manifested which are just the opposite to those 
described in this paragraph. Those who walk after the flesh 
have no place in the Church of Christ. 

QUESTIONS 

What are the things not to be named among saints? 

What kind of conversation is condemned here? 

What was to take its place? 

Are these vices committed by people who know the truth? 

What was the inheritance of Ver. 5? 


126 


EPHESIANS 


3. LOOK TO GOD FOR DIRECTION AND BE 
LIGHT BEARERS, 5:6-14 

Our attention is called here to the difference between the 
heathen and Christian way of life. This is set out by the 
familiar figure of light and darkness. 

Ver. 6. Let no man deceive you with empty (vain) words; 
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the 
sons of disobedience. 

Human sin began (Gen. 3) with exactly such deceit—vain 
words, and they are the subtlest ingredients still, in the secret 
of temptation. The vain words here are the same as the words 
that are empty. The Apostle, in Ver. 5, has warned us that 
the inheritance obtained by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can 
only be secured by being separated from the things that lead 
to darkness, and for this reason we should be able to discern 
the words that speak for truth and those that are but empty 
and deceive. 

“For because of these things cometh the wrath of God.” 
In our study in the book of Romans (1:16-19) Paul presents 
the revelation of the righteousness of God for those who will 
walk in His light. He also presents the revelation of the wrath 
of God which comes upon the disobedient. There is but one 
way by which to escape the wrath of God and that is to accept 
God’s Son as our redeemer, who has by His own death, set us 
free from the penalty of the law. Obedience unto God brings 
us light and righteousness. Disobedience brings upon us the 
wrath of God and darkness. We are instructed in the Scripture 
that we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. 
The only fellowship that God does approve of is our fellowship 
with those who are obedient unto Him, and upon whom His 
wrath is not abiding. 

Much has been said in these verses about false teachers; 
the false teachers who are going about trying to establish their 
own righteousness and are constantly finding fault with the 
Word of eternal truth. These are the persons who are deceiv- 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


127 


ing us with empty words. The empty words are words void 
of truth, life and Spirit. They are words made up of but the 
shell and have not the kernel, the underlying fact, connected 
with them. 

Ver. 7. Be not ye therefore, partakers with them. 

Those who are disobedient and are under the wrath of God. 
The warning is very much needed in these days of worldliness. 
There is so much being offered for religion that when rightly 
examined is disobedience and darkness. The only way we can 
be sure of attaining His righteousness is to keep free from 
association with the sons of disobedience. The reference to 
punishment is the foundation of the warning against com¬ 
panionship with them. 

Ver. 8. For ye were once darkness, but are now light in the 
Lord: walk as children of light. 

Here the Apostle presents the reason taken from their 
experience of grace. This when rightly understood should 
keep us not only from association, but from any desire to be 
as we once were. The future participation depends upon present 
character. We are not to cast in our lot again with the unclean 
and covetous. We have renounced their ways and their doom. 
We do not want to have any further association with them. 
We have exchanged darkness for the light enjoyed by the saints. 
If we want to enjoy the inheritance that is promised us, we 
cannot return to our old sins. If we have light, we must walk 
in the light and by doing so we will reach the realm of greater 
light. 

“But are now light in the Lord.” That is, you are not only 
to come into the light yourselves and to walk worthy of the 
light, but you are to be light unto others. 

“Walk as children of light.” This is to manifest a man’s 
standing in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we represent ourselves 
unto others as enjoying the light, we must walk in that light 
and by walking in it we will help those who are in darkness 


128 


EPHESIANS 


to see the difference between persons walking in light and those 
walking in darkness. 

What belongs to the walk in the light? (1) Fellowship 
with God in Christ; (2) Laying off all ungodly doing; (3) Liv¬ 
ing according to God’s good pleasure. 

Ver. 9. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and right¬ 
eousness and truth. 

The children of the light are referred to the fruit of the 
light in order to incite them to a corresponding walk. This 
shows us what the character of the children of light must be. 

“In all goodness and righteousness and truth.” Fruit is 
in the singular and yet three kinds of fruit are mentioned (Gal. 
5:22, 23). “The fruit of the Spirit” is followed by nine, in 
order to render prominent its unity in contrast with the “words 
of the flesh.” Then in Phil. 4: 8, “Whatsoever things are true.” 
They are the virtues of the Christian man. You are in the 
light of the Lord. Now walk as children of the light. How 
shall we walk as children of the light? The Apostle tells us, 
in goodness and righteousness and truth. Let these be fruit 
of the light and manifest it in these three ways. And if you 
live this way you will find out what it is to please God. If 
you do this, your life will be entirely free from the works 
of darkness. 

Ver. 10. Proving (searching out) what is well-pleasing unto 
the Lord. 

We prove what is acceptable unto the Lord by walking as 
children of the light and advertising it by bearing the fruit 
which is named in the former verses. Wherever this fruit 
appears we know that this light has been, though its ways are 
past finding out. The test of a thing being right or wrong 
is its being acceptable or unacceptable to the Lord. The proof 
of a thing being acceptable unto the Lord would be the approval 
given to it by the divinely enlightened conscience of the right¬ 
eous man. 

“What is well-pleasing unto the Lord.” The Christian is 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


129 


one whose course is continually proving* and testing the will 
of God in practice, investigating not what pleases himself, but 
what pleases God. Let us judge ourselves that we be not 
judged by the Lord. Let us not count wrong a trifle. Let us 
never imagine that our defect of one kind will be atoned for 
by excellence in another. “May your whole Spirit, soul, and 
body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). 

Ver. 11. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of 
darkness, but rather even reprove (convict) them. 

In the following verses (11-13) we have a warning against 
fellowship with evil workers. We as Christians are light bearers 
and ought to influence the surrounding darkness by the light 
which God has given us as Christians. 

“The unfruitful works of darkness.” Works which con¬ 
trast in character with the good and righteous and true works 
which are the works of light (Gal. 5: 19-22). 

“But rather reprove them.” If we follow the instruction 
given by the Apostle Paul, we have to do more than not to be 
in fellowship, we must reprove in order to do our duty as 
children of the light. This will require Christian courage, but 
there are many who are, through association and approval, 
becoming partakers of the darkness instead of being positive 
in reproof. 

Ver. 12. For the things which are done by them in secret it 
is a shame (indecent) even to speak of. 

This is the general reason for reproof on the part of those 
whose duty it is to reprove. 

“Things done in secret,”—things done by the Gentiles; the 
open and manifest forms of evil in which they invite their 
Christian neighbors to join (Ver. 11). Silent abstinence is not 
enough. It is a shame and a disgrace to our common nature 
and a grievous peril to the young and innocent, to fill the public 
prints with the nauseating details of crime. There is only one 
way by which the darkness can be manifested and that is 

Vol. 3—9 


130 


EPHESIANS 


through the light. The daily life of Christian men among men 
of the world is a perpetual reproof that tells against secret sins, 
even when no words are spoken. Everyone who walks in 
Christ’s steps and breathes His Spirit is carrying on against 
these sins a stronger warfare in silence than by spoken argu¬ 
ments. However, Christian reproof must not be neglected by 
children of the light. 

Ver. 13. But all things when they are reproved are made 
manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is 
light. 

“But all things” denotes what is described in Ver. 12. You 
who were once darkness, once wandering in pleasures and 
lusts of the heathen, you were without hope and without God. 
Now the light of the Gospel has disclosed the darkness in which 
you once were and then dispelled the darkness, and so you are 
enjoying the light, and the heathen who are in darkness will 
need the light that you possess so God can bring them out of 
darkness. The world is in the night of sin, and the world will 
always be in that darkness, therefore it is necessary that men 
and women use the light that others may see their light and 
through it glorify God. 

“For everything that is made manifest is light.” If you use 
your light properly, it will become punishment unto the wicked 
and when this takes place, that which is secret will be made 
manifest unto them, become pain and its scandalousness recog¬ 
nized. If light is manifested then men can be made to see the 
true nature of their sins and will forsake them. 

Ver. 14. Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and 
arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee. 

God is now speaking. Listen to His voice. “Awake thou 
that sleepest.” 

Paul re-utters the promise of the old covenant from the 
lips of the new, and from the prophetic Scriptures, the things 
concerning the salvation of Christ as sounded in the Apostle’s 
ears, and conveys them to the world. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


131 


The Jewish Church is set forth as in a state of darkness 
and death and we have an exhortation by the prophet to walk 
and become light for that light is the glory of Jehovah. Now 
if that is true from the Old Testament, why is it not suitable 
for what we are discussing here concerning the Christian 
Church. Paul is speaking under the influence of the Holy 
Spirit and brings about the Spiritual meaning of the passage. 
There are a number of Scriptures that are similar in teaching 
to the one just quoted (Isa. 60:1; Rom. 13:11, 12; 1 Cor. 
15:34; 1 Thess. 5:6). 

“Arise and call upon thy God.” This is a solemn warning 
to every Christian man and Christian woman making up the 
Body of Christ. 

“Awake thou that sleepest!” Wake up, look around, see 
what the conditions are that are not in harmony with the 
Word of God. “Arise, shine, for the light has come and the 
glory of the Lord has risen upon thee” (Isa. 60:1). The peo¬ 
ple that walk in the darkness have seen a great light. 

“And arise from the dead.” The sleeper is inactive and 
one who is dead. The promise intimates, “And Christ shall 
give thee light.” The figure is that of morning when day 
breaks and man see the sunlight. Christ Himself is the day¬ 
light and makes the day that enlightens us; the light that we 
have been speaking of as the power to waken the sleeping dead. 

QUESTIONS 

Why should people be deceived by empty words? 

What class of people are under the wrath of God? 

Do you realize the difference between the darkness and the 
light referred to in Ver. 8? 

Name the three fruits of the Spirit. 

How can you prove by the fruits of the Spirit what is suitable 
unto the Lord? 

What is our duty to those who are producing unfruitful works 
of darkness? 

What is the condition of those who are asleep, according to 

Ver. 14? 


132 


EPHESIANS 


IV. The Spirit Filled Life, 5:15-21 

The Apostle has made it clear in the foregoing paragraph 
that the Christian, although he was known as a Gentile, must 
indicate the great change that has taken place through regenera¬ 
tion (4:17). The Christian shows that he belongs to the 
company known as light-bearers. No matter how the actions 
of those who are known as Christians may be hidden and 
things done in secret, the time will come when they will be 
brought to light and instead of being a help, will be a positive 
hinderance to the individual and to the cause. 

Ver. IS. Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, 
but as wise. 

This probably refers to the thing that Paul said in Ver. 11, 
“Having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness/* 
We are living in a world of darkness. The great majority of 
the human race is classed with unregenerate. Paul realized the 
great danger of being led away with those who love darkness 
and thus becoming like the world. He instructs us not to be 
partakers with those who are in darkness and doing deeds while 
in darkness, but if we belong to the children of the light to go 
a step further and reprove those who walk without being guided 
by the light. 

It is not only “walk” but “look.** The Christian who looks 
and knows before taking the next step is the one who can be 
trusted and followed. The Christian must show that he is not 
a fool, and not unwise, but wise to observe the steps and seize 
every opportunity in this great period of darkness through 
which the church must pass. These are days so perilous that 
every Christian needs the very best wisdom of God and His 
will to save him from the fatal stumbling that is so prevalent 
in this age when the lamp—the Word of God—is so much 
neglected. 

“Not as unwise, but as wise.** One would think that the 
incentive mentioned in the Word of God for the higher attain- 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 133 


ment in Spiritual life would be readily accepted and all profess¬ 
ing Christians would act in a way that their conduct would 
show this change (1:18-21). The Apostle’s prayer is that 
their understanding might be opened and that enlightenment 
might be granted. 

Ver. 16. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 

Buying up the opportunities. This is what those do who 
act not as unwise men, but as wise. They show it in their walk. 
There is a reason given here for this resolution not to miss an 
opportunity of doing God’s will, because all ought to be aware 
of the moral corruption which surrounds them and is unfriendly 
to Christian righteousness. Through Christian righteousness 
he was to offer a continual protest on the behalf of the Divine 
authority which even other men had forgotten. They were to 
redeem the time by the use of the opportunities because “the 
days are evil.” They were in the days of Nero, an emperor 
who was under the direction of Satan. There are so many 
who are too reckless to think and too impatient to learn. Every¬ 
thing in these times in which we live is sacrificed for speed. 
The telegraph and daily newspaper symbolize the age. The 
public love to catch quickly any new sensation. A premium is 
set upon carelessness and hurry. Earnest men who are anxious 
for the triumph of a good cause, push forward with unweighed 
denunciations that destroy Christian advocacy, and wound the 
cause of truth and charity. Men pushing forward without the 
right knowledge of God, understanding the Divine plan, must 
in the end receive some loss and fall under the judgment of 
God and His Word. It is after all, truth that lives. 

The Apostle (4:21) calls our attention to the fact that he 
has heard and been taught by Jesus Christ—“As the truth is 
in Jesus.” Now it depends altogether on whether we have heard 
Him and have been taught by Him even as the truth is in Christ. 
It is not as though we had heard this and that teaching about 
Christ, not as though we had heard this and that thing con¬ 
cerning Him, but as we have heard Him. That is, heard Christ 


134 


EPHESIANS 


himself, for His words which He speaks to us are Spirit and 
Life (John 6:63). The Apostle does not say, ‘‘The truth as 
it is in Jesus.” If the Apostle had said that, it would imply 
that there is some truth that is not in Him and that is not the 
case. Notice the words as they appear in the text: “As the 
truth is in Jesus.” This implies that there is no truth apart 
from Him. Jesus declared in his farewell sermon, “I am the 
truth,” and the words which testify of Him are truth. Here 
is the key for the worthy and righteous walk. The time-servers 
are unwise both intellectually and morally. 

Saint Paul sees a special reason for heedfulness, because 
“the days are evil.” Those who are best acquainted with the 
early history, realize the Church was passing through a very 
critical period, but from that time to the present, what period 
has not been critical for the church that stands true to the 
truth as it is in Jesus? It is the time when we must employ 
every means to increase our knowledge of Christ. We are 
living in a time when faith must be strengthened and Spiritual 
life must be tested by the Word of God. The Christian man 
must be prepared at any time for the siege. Therefore, fortifica¬ 
tions must be strengthened and soldiers must drill each day with 
the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, that the training 
for Christian warfare may be thorough, that Christ our Captain 
can depend upon us for victory at each attack of the enemy. 

It was just four years until Peter, the Apostle of Pentecost, 
and Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, the great missionary and 
organizer of churches, the writer of Church Epistles, were num¬ 
bered with those who died a martyr’s death. Just a few years 
later, in the year 70, we have the capture of Jerusalem, the 
destruction of the Jewish temple and nation, so that in the year 
63, when the Apostle wrote the Epistle, the sky was everywhere 
dark and lowering with times of coming storms. No one could 
tell when the siege would be on. The Bible was full of 
prophetic teaching concerning the times of the early Chris¬ 
tians. The Bible is full of prophetic teachings concerning the 
times in which we live. However, even the professing church 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


135 


is so occupied with the material and industrial, that the visions 
of God, and the Word of eternal truth are unheeded and the 
crisis may be at hand and yet unknown. 

Ver. 17. Wherefore be ye not foolish (unwise), but under¬ 
stand what the will of the Lord is. 

This teaching follows very naturally what he has said about 
the necessity of wisdom. These are days of unrest and we do 
not know the will of the Lord which is the greatest need. 
Paul says to Timothy, that people will be “ever learning, 
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 
3:7). The intellectual is now over-emphasized, the physical is 
receiving the attention of the public, and the will of the Lord 
as revealed in the sixty-six books which contain His plan for 
the human race is unstudied and unheeded. People are looking 
around everywhere for something to satisfy this unrest. The 
Ephesian Christians must understand that Christ is no mere 
adviser, that the Christ life must be one that harmonizes with 
the Word of truth, not that which suits the individual himself. 
Christ is our Lord and it is our business to understand Him 
in order that we may execute His designs. Because of this, 
Christ’s servants require a watchful eye and worthy intellect. 
They must not be triflers, given to sentiment. They must be 
men great in mind. 

We have studied two great prayers given to the church in 
this epistle (1:17-23, 3:14-21). God has wonderfully re¬ 
vealed what it means for the Christian to have his standing in 
Christ and that the church is being built as a Body for the 
Lord Jesus Christ as a habitation for God. 

Ver. 18. And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot 
(excess), but be filled with the Spirit. 

In this Ephesian church were converted thieves and drunk¬ 
ards, and now why is it necessary to give this admonition? 
These are some of the unfruitful works of darkness and lead 
to dangerous association and fellowship. Some men take drink 
in excess to deaden their sensibility to trouble, to lessen the 


136 


EPHESIANS 


pain, to destroy their memory or disturbing feelings, but some 
take the intoxicating cup to incite to action the mind. They 
claim things become more vivid and plain. This is the kind of 
drinking which brings men into violence and profligacy. Paul 
indicates, however, how this craving for something that is not 
in harmony with the walk of the Christian should be satisfied— 
“But be filled with the Spirit.” We must forsake all sins which 
render it impossible for the righteous and pure Spirit of God 
to grant to us fullness of His Spirit, and open the channels 
to the streams that flow from the Divine and eternal fountains, 
so they may find their way into our nature. If you do this, 
your vision of eternal things will have a perpetual keenness. 
Your joy in God will be anticipation of the blessed life beyond 
the grave. The source of true righteous enthusiasm is not 
bodily or mental excitement, but a Divine Spiritual impulse. 

Ver. 19. Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and 
spiritual songs, singing and making melody (music) with your 
heart to the Lord. 

People who are filled with the Spirit of God are interested 
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Their enjoyment is 
fellowship with those who are full of the things of God. This 
comes from the Spirit of God which dwells in Christ. 

Their singing was not always to be worship addressed to 
God. They were to sing to each other as well as to Him; just 
as the minister is to preach to those who are before him and 
bring the message from God, so those who have the gift of song 
are to sing to the church. We are to sing about God’s power 
in order to give new energy and courage; songs about the glory 
of Heaven to transfigure hope into rapture, singing and making 
music in our hearts to the Lord. Spiritual enthusiasm creates 
an inner music in the heart as well as the utterances given to 
God in song. 

Man’s body is the temple for the indwelling of the Holy 
Spirit. The Spirit lives in the temple. The Holy Spirit directs 
the person that gives him a home in the temple. Paul prays 
(3:19) that we may be filled unto all the fulness of God, and 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


137 


then instructs us to grow to the measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ (4: 13). The Holy Spirit’s fulness is mani¬ 
fested within the individual soul and within the church. If 
this be true the body possessed by the Holy Spirit, as members 
of the church, is truly the Body of Christ and even becomes 
the habitation of God (2:21, 22). 

Their talk was music. They spoke to each other in songs 
and Spiritual psalms. Hearts filled with the Spirit, love to 
sing. Even those who are not able to lead in song enjoy the 
melody referred to by Paul. This was the custom in each 
church, that the Christians would take up a psalm and draw 
out one of the pearls and in turn would recite them at their 
meetings and adapt them to their measures and modes of song. 

In the next two verses we have two more manifestations 
of the presence of God’s Spirit: 

Ver. 20. Giving thanks always for all things in the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. 

Continual thankfulness welling up from the full heart. “In 
everything give thanks,” he wrote to the Thessalonians in his 
earliest letter. We do know that all things work together for 
good to those who love God. It is in the evil days as well as 
in good days. Nothing comes altogether amiss to the child 
of God. In the heaviest burden, the sharpest sting of injury, 
this is all included, in everything or all things. We may not 
know now, but we shall know hereafter. 

“Always,” the Apostle says, “for all things.” Here Paul 
leaves no moment of room for discontent. He had learned 
the secret of contentment in whatever state he was. If he 
learned this in that early period of tremendous opposition, 
what is our experience as we live in the present period? 

Ver. 21. Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of 
Christ. 

In the Corinthian church we find many were ready to 
prophesy, sing and recite, and that confusion arose in the 
church meetings, and some admonition was given. The Apostle 


138 


EPHESIANS 


does not want such a scene to occur again. He asks for a full 
leadership of the Spirit, and when free utterance is given in 
song through the inspiration of new life, he adds this word 
of caution as he closes the paragraph, “Being subjected one to 
another in the fear of Christ.” God is not the author of 
confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). “The fear of Christ.” Christ is 
the unseen witness and present at their assemblages. The Chris¬ 
tian ought always to remember that the church was made up 
of different members and these members have a relation one 
to another because they, as an organism, are known as the 
Body of Christ. Thus in mutual subjection lies their freedom 
and strength and peace. 


QUESTIONS 

What can you say about the Christian’s position? 

Why does Paul open this paragraph by using the word “look”? 

How can the Christian “redeem the time”? 

Are the days as evil now as they were when this book was 
written? 

Can one be a Christian and not be filled with the Spirit of God? 

What substitute does Paul give to take the place of fellowship 
of unfruitful works of darkness? 

What effect has music on the Christian’s life? 

Name the two things that grow out of a Spirit filled life. 

(1) Always giving thanks, (2) Proper conduct in one’s 

position, or submission, or proper relationship as members 

of the Body of Christ. 

V. Their Walk Among Themselves, 5:22-6:9 

1. CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE, 5:22-33 

In the former paragraph we discussed spiritual relations 
concerning the members of the Christian Church. In this we 
are discussing special Christian duties in domestic relations. 
We find that the true Christian life is not an isolated life. 
With such a relationship as presented in this letter there must 
be a very high standard manifested in domestic relations. This 
relationship is clearly set forth in the following paragraph. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


139 


Ver. 22. Wives be in subjection (submit yourselves) unto 
your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 

In Ver. 21 we were instructed that the Christians were to 
be subject one to another. By its subjection, the gifts of all 
the members of Christ’s Body are made available for the up¬ 
building of God’s temple. This is to be done in the fear of 
God. 

The author has been emphasizing the proper relationship 
between member and member, and because of this relationship 
they must walk worthy of it, not only because there is such a 
relationship, but that the right influence may go out from this 
society upon the onlooker who is not yet a member of the 
Body of Christ. Every member in this body is under the direc¬ 
tion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the different members 
of the body are in subjection to the head of the physical body, 
so the members of the Body of Christ are in subjection one 
to another; related one to another and all under the direction 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is illustrated by referring to 
the relation that exists between the husband and wife. The 
right relationship of man and woman will show the influence 
of the church exerted upon society. In the relation of man 
and wife, we have on the one side submission to authority, 
and submission and self-surrender, but the wife is to be in 
subjection as unto the Lord, or in other words, as is fitting 
unto the Lord. 

The Apostle Paul tells us (1 Tim. 2:11, 12), “I suffer not 
a woman to teach nor to have dominion over a man, but to 
be in quietness.” This subordination is fundamental. Just as 
the Church looks up and obeys Christ, so in the ideal Christian 
family, each wife is so related to her husband. When the ideal 
cannot be obtained through the husband’s defects, it is still the 
aim of the wife to carry it out as far as these defects admit. 

The head of the woman is the man, and the head of every 
man is Christ. The head of Christ is God. The woman is of 
the man and was created because of the man. This tells us that 
in the Divine order of things, it is the man’s part to lead and 


140 


EPHESIANS 


rule, and the woman's part to be ruled, and there is no difference 
whatever, if the instructions of the Apostle Paul are carefully 
read “as unto the Lord." The Christian woman will not feel 
any hardship in this if the husband’s standing is right in 
Christ. Such subordination as expressed here by the Apostle 
Paul does not mean inferiority, but rather the opposite. The 
same submission must be within the Church that is within the 
house. Both are the children of God by the same birth-right, 
both receive the same Holy Spirit according to the Scripture 
used by Saint Peter on the day of Petecost. Christian courtesy 
treats the woman as the glory of the man. 

Ver. 23. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ 
also is the Head of the Church; being himself the Saviour (pre¬ 
server) of the body. 

The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. Christ said, ‘‘Upon 
this rock will I build my church." He is the builder and the 
Church belongs to Him, and just as the husband is the head 
of the wife, so Christ is the Head of the Church. The duties 
here, of the husband to the wife, are enforced by the illustra¬ 
tion of Christ being the Head of the Church, the Body. The 
husband is the head of the wife (1 Cor. 11:3). 

It is clear from all Scriptures which taught of the mystery, 
that the Church is the Body of Christ and the members of that 
Body are members of Christ, and He is the Saviour of the 
Body. The Church is His and His alone. Christ, being the 
Head, is the preserver (Saviour) of the Body, the Church, 
which would necessarily perish were it not for the life com¬ 
municated to it from the Head, and so the wife, who separates 
herself from her husband by living in antagonism instead of 
submission to him, is dead while she liveth, losing the life which 
through him might be hers. 

Ver. 24. But as the Church is subject to Christ, so let the 
wives also be to their husbands in everything. 

There is some difference in Christ as the head of the church 
and man as the head of the wife. Nevertheless the Church 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


141 


is subject to Christ. It would be well for all who study this 
book to have clearly in mind what is meant by the Church. The 
Church here is a Body called out from the world, saved through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died with Christ, who rose 
with Christ, and who lives because Christ lives. This new 
society has a mission similar to that which was expressed by 
the Head while He was here on earth. 

The Church is a separate institution from the world. She 
has but one great mission, and that is to save men, to add mem¬ 
bers to this Body. The Church now, in a large measure, is 
being side-tracked by worldly influence and modernism, having 
in view civilization and world-betterment, instead of listening 
to the Head and taking orders directly from Him. There is 
not that relationship in the so-called professing church to-day 
to the Head, as taught here by the Apostle Paul. If the Church 
is subject to Christ, she knows Christ as her Saviour and 
protector, and knows that under all circumstances the Body 
is safe when directed and protected by the omniscient, omni¬ 
potent, omnipresent Head. What a wonderful relationship 
there must exist between the true Church and the Body of 
Christ. This is to be the relation between the wife and husband. 

Ver. 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved 
the Church, and gave Himself up for it. 

See to it that you love your wife, even as Christ also loved 
the Church. The husband is here placed in emphatic parallelism 
with Christ. The reason for this is fully set forth. There is 
such love expressed between Christ and the Church that He 
“gave Himself up for it,” even unto death. 

It was by the disobedience of one man that sin came into 
the world. It was by the obedience of one man, even unto 
death, that righteousness and life came, and all righteousness 
and life has come to take the place of sin and death. Then 
that relationship must not be forgotten that is expressed between 
the purchased Church and the person who has paid the price. 
Christ gave Himself for the Church, even unto death, and if 


142' 


EPHESIANS 


that same spirit is manifested by the husband’s self-devotion 
even unto death, there is but continual joy in the heart of the 
wife who can live in companionship with that self-sacrificing 
husband. 

The Church, knowing what it cost to save her and give her 
the joy that she now possesses, creates love for Christ, so 
woman’s love for man. Man’s love for woman modeled on 
that of Christ for the Church, leads him, if need be, to sacrifice 
his life for the protection of his weaker partner and to nourish 
and cherish her. Woman’s love for man, modeled on that of 
the Church for Christ, shows itself in the one duty of sub¬ 
mission—a single duty, but of manifold application. 

Ver. 26. That he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the 
washing (laver) of water with the word. 

The Church’s purification is antecedent in thought to her 
sanctification through the sacrifice of Christ, and it is therefore 
stated, ‘‘ye are washed, ye are sanctified” (1 Cor. 6:11). It 
is the order of doctrine which he laid down in the Epistle to 
the Romans, where sanctification is built on the foundation 
laid in justification through the blood of Christ. We have 
learned through Paul’s instructions (Rom. 6:4) that baptism 
serves as a visible and formal expression of the soul’s passage 
through the gate of forgiveness into the sanctified life. The 
believer, having thus passed through death, burial, and resurrec¬ 
tion by faith into union with Christ, is here instructed as a 
believer, how he may obtain in every period of his Christian 
life a more complete sanctification. The Apostle here is not 
emphasizing the fact of passing out of the old into the new, 
but the great need of spiritual power and growth as a member 
in the Body of Christ. 

The washing unto sanctification here propounded is not in 
natural earthly water, applied in sacred ceremony, but it is 
affected by the cleansing, purging, purifying and judging Word 
of God. In the Jewish church, to approach God in the sanctuary 
acceptably, there was need of daily washing at the laver that 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


143 


stood in the court on the way from the altar to the sanctuary, 
and which was always full of water for this purpose. Thus the 
church to-day in its membership whose service knows no stated 
or limited period but is continuous day by day, hour by hour, 
without intermission needs constant and continuous cleansing 
and purifying by the keen and infallible Word of God. This 
Word of God is “living, and active, sharper than any two-edged 
sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, 
joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and in¬ 
tents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). “Sanctify them through 
thy truth; thy Word is truth” (John 17:17). And again 
Christ said (John 15:3), “Now ye are clean through the word 
which I have spoken unto you.” So it is impossible for a 
Christian to grow in grace and make progress in sanctification 
without repeated and constant washing with the Word. No 
pious exercise can take its place; as we are regenerated, so we 
are cleansed and sanctified. When this cleansing and sanctify¬ 
ing is not carried forward by the Word, much confusion and 
burdening of conscience is experienced by thousands of Chris¬ 
tians. When the Word of God is not given its proper place, 
it leaves the soul open to all manner of unsound and visionary 
fanaticism even with those who are earnestly striving after 
holiness. This caution is needed to-day. Many devout and 
well meaning people are following false leaders because they 
know not the truth of God. 

A very large holiness literature is published and eagerly 
read by ardent hungry souls, who if they would devote only half 
the time needed for reading it to acquire a thorough washing 
of water with the Word of God, they would soon experience 
a far greater and more healthful growth in true holiness. This 
cannot be had even by the closest study of the lives and expe¬ 
riences of the most holy and devout people that ever lived. 
There is danger on the one hand of mistaking our assent to 
the experience of others for our own actual progress and 
growth in grace, and on the other hand, of making these expe- 


144 


EPHESIANS 


riences a pattern and standard of our own life and thus becom¬ 
ing bond-servants of men. 

Ver. 27. That he might present the church to Himself a 
glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; 
but that it should be holy and without blemish. 

The world or anything else cannot produce this glorious 
church. His purpose in giving Himself for His future Church 
was: (1) to cleanse it, (2) to sanctify it, (3) to present it 
to Himself, thus a glorious and holy and spotless Church. The 
Church is, according to Divine intention, in this world, glorious, 
without spot or wrinkle; holy and without blemish. Christ died 
for the Church, not because its perfection made Him love it, 
but because He was willing to undergo any suffering to deliver 
it from the world. His love was so strong that He did not re¬ 
coil from any shame or anguish to bring it out of sin and make 
it holy and spotless. 

Ver. 28. Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives 
as their own bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself. 

The imperfection of the wife does not release the husband 
from the debt of love. Through the right kind of relationship 
is developed the strength of love which gives occasion for self- 
sacrifice and devotion. Here in this verse he gives another 
reason for this love. We have been told that husbands ought 
to love their own wives as their own bodies. So ought hus¬ 
bands also to love their own selves (their wives) because they 
and their wives are “one flesh.” The man is now to be head 
of the wife and the wife the body of the husband, as the Church 
in Christ is the Body. Therefore, he who loveth his own wife, 
loveth himself. 

Ver. 29. For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth 
and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the Church. 

“No man ever” is not limited. If he actually injured him¬ 
self, it cannot even then be said that he hateth his own flesh, 
“but nourished and cherished it.” This growing development 
is brought about through nourishment. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


145 


“Even as the Lord the Church.” Christ called Himself the 
Bread of Life. We know the Lord is continually directing as 
far as His children are obedient to Him in the Church. He 
does not only redeem; He nourishes and feeds. 

Through the Apostle Paul, Christ, the Head of the Church, 
has given us seven great books to study. The Holy Spirit has 
brought these truths of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through Paul 
as His agent, these great books were written for our instruction 
to help us understand our relation to Christ so that our state 
might be equal to our standing. In this way the Church is 
fed, nourished and strengthened. 

Ver. 30. Because we are members of His body, (of His flesh, 
and of His bones). 

He nourisheth and cherisheth the Church. How could He 
help but do this when He is the Head of the body. When the 
body suffers, He suffers. When the body is not nourished, He 
understands all about it. The Church as a whole and as in¬ 
dividual members, are the members of His body, “of His flesh 
and of His bones.” 

The Apostle Paul is presenting the same line of thought as 
recorded in (1 Cor. 11: 3-12). He would have you know “that 
the head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman 
is man, and the head of Christ is God.” Man is the image of 
the glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man, for 
man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. So 
the same thing may be said concerning Christ and His Church. 
We have here a profound mystery disclosed that the Church 
is the Body of Christ which accounts for His love to the 
Church and His authority over it. We were told that He 
nourisheth and cherisheth the Church just because we are mem¬ 
bers of His Body. 

Now this membership, in its origin, was older than creation 
itself. God choose His Son before the foundation of the world 
and the members of His Church were included in that call, and 
this was the mystery that was hidden in God from before the 

Vol. 3—10 


146 


EPHESIANS 


foundation or creation of the world until finally revealed unto 
the Apostle Paul as described in the third chapter. We were 
thus created in the Son of God’s love, antecedent to the time 
of our personal redemption when we accepted Him by faith. 
Such is the teaching of this Epistle as well as the companion 
Epistles which Paul wrote while a prisoner in Rome. 

Christ died, even the death of the cross; His body was 
buried, and from that tomb came forth the Church, His Body. 
The derivation of Eve from the body of Adam, as that is 
termed the mystery in Genesis, is analogous with the derivation 
of the Bride from the Body of Christ. The origin of woman 
in the man which forms the basis of marriage in the Scriptures 
is later than the origin of the Church, the Body of Christ. 

The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man 
Adam, and while he slept, God took one of his ribs and closed 
up the flesh, and forming woman brought her to the man, and 
the man said, “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my 
flesh” (Gen. 2:21-24). Adam spoke and made this declaration 
at the time of his own wedding. Thus in some mystical and 
real sense, marriage is a reunion, Adam seeking his other self, 
the complement of his nature. He founds a new home. 

The inspired Apostle, from the passage in Genesis, explains 
the origin of marriage and indicates that which really draws the 
bridegroom to the bride. However, with this declaration a 
deeper truth, as before stated, can be secured from “before the 
foundation of the world.” 

Ver. 31. For this cause shall a man leave his father and 
mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the twain shall become 
one flesh. 

Paul quoted from Genesis (2: 32), “Of his flesh and of his 
bone,” and now proceeds to quote the next verse (Gen. 2:24) 
which confirms his teaching concerning the affection which 
ought to exist between man and wife. Since the woman was 
taken from the body of the man, he should naturally, from a 
Scriptural point of view, cling to her, she being part of him. 
That which is of interest to one, must also be of interest to 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


147 


the other. Here we have the Scriptural grounds for the for¬ 
saking of all others and cleaving but to the one because the 
two, through marriage, have become one flesh. 

Ver. 32. This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ 
and of the Church. 

What does this great mystery signify? We see that it has 
to do with Christ and His Church. It means that the Church 
is the Body of Christ. That is the real meaning as expressed 
in the Scriptures. Mysteries in God’s Word are truths which 
the human mind, unaided by Divine revelation, could never find 
out or grasp. God, however, unfolds them in His Word and 
reveals them to His own through the Spirit who searcheth all 
things, even the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10). 

Note carefully how this passage relates to the quotation 
in the former paragraph (Gen. 2: 22, 23). This is the account 
of the origin and making, not of Adam, but of his wife, who 
was builded from a portion of Adam’s body which was already 
in existence and completed. Along this line of thought does 
the Apostle move and here is the explanation of the great 
mystery. There is a close intimacy between Christ and His 
Church in as much as the Church is His Body. The term 
“bride” or “wife” of Jehovah is quite often used in Old Testa¬ 
ment Scripture and a proper understanding of these terms 
will help us to ascertain the true meaning of Paul’s teaching 
here. 

In Gen. 24 we have Abraham sending his servant to get 
a bride for Isaac, his son and heir. He was not to seek her 
among the Gentiles, but “go unto my country and to my 
kindred” (Gen. 24:4; Cp. also Ps. 46 and many other passages 
in the Prophetic Psalms as well as in the Songs of Solomon). 
Now there must have been many Jewish believers in the churches 
to which Paul wrote this letter, and as he expounded this truth 
of the Body of Christ, taken from all nations (Israel included 
but without any special prerogative) the questions would arise 
again and again. What of the fulfilment of the many and glow¬ 
ing promises of Jehovah concerning His final marriage with the 


148 


EPHESIANS 


virgin, the daughter of Zion? Are not the gifts and calling 
of God without repentance? Paul warned Gentile believers 
not to be wise in their own conceits because of this mystery 
(another mystery that blindness in part happened to Israel 
until the fulness of the Gentiles) ; so here he speaks of the 
parallel mystery to-wit: that when the Body of Christ, the 
Church, is completed from among the nations (including Israel 
of course, but reckoned among the nations) then will take place 
the formation and preparation of the bride, the wife of the 
second Adam. 

Thus the term “bride of Christ,” in this mystery, would 
mark that portion of the Body which comes from Israel, and 
who during the formation of the Church, out of all nations in 
this age, has not had in the judicious providence of God any 
separate existence or history; but which was hidden as it were 
in the Body as the rib was in the first Adam’s side. So she as 
part of Israel partakes of the same wonderful life and blessing 
of Christ with all the other believers, but in the final con- 
sumation she is to find a peculiar and separate presentation 
as a special organism. She is to be builded into a second woman 
for the second Adam, a truly Israelitish bride of Jehovah, a 
proof and evidence to the rest of the Jewish nation of the 
unshaken faithfulness of Jehovah to all His promises; evidence, 
too, that the seeming destruction of the Jewish nation as such 
and its almost complete scattering and mingling among the 
Christianized nations of the world was only apparent. 

From the side of the great second Adam will be taken a 
body of Christ-believing Israelites, the earnest and first fruit 
of Israel’s final national redemption and restoration to Divine 
favor, the guarantee and at once the agent, for the execution 
of all the great and precious promises of Jehovah given to the 
fathers. So as the body of Adam enclosed the wife, so the body 
of Christ (the Church from all nations) encloses to-day, all 
the Israelitish elements from which the bride proper, according 
to Scripture, is to be formed and presented to the second Adam, 
“bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.” That will be the 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


149 


signal and means of Jehovah’s reopening official relations as 
it were, with His ancient people Israel. It does not mean any 
disruption of the Body to distinguish between the Body and 
bride. All who believe in Christ are one in Christ Jesus, 
whether Jew or Gentile. Adam declared that Eve was bone of 
his bone, and Paul declared in Ver. 31, “For this cause a man 
shall leave—and the two shall be one flesh,” but it does mean 
much confusion and darkness of council to confound Body and 
bride, and to apply the latter term indiscriminately to the whole 
Body of believers from all nations. 

In the summary of this entire passage we see (1) in 
Ver. 23 man is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head 
of the church. Had Paul wished to teach that the church was 
the bride or wife of Christ this would have been his opportunity, 
then we should have read, “Even as Christ is the bridegroom 
of the church.” (2) In Ver. 30, “For we are members of His 
body” would also read, “For we are the bride of Christ.” If 
Paul had intended to teach in this passage that which he is 
commonly supposed to teach, that the Church is the bride of 
Christ, why did he not use the term freely and frankly? It 
must be that that was not his purpose. He was the bearer and 
revealer of a mystery, not made known in past ages to the 
children of men, and it was his special gospel mission to unfold 
this mystery, which was the Church, the Body of Christ, and 
we as believers, members one of another. 

Ver. 33. Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his 
own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she fear her 
husband. 

The Apostle closes this paragraph with this very helpful 
instruction for Christian parents. There is nothing to be said 
beyond what the Apostle has here presented. See that you all, 
in your individual capacity, whatever may be your relations, 
do that which becometh members of the Body of Christ. The 
husband is to love his wife even as he loves himself and the 
wife is to reverence her husband which is a necessary condi- 


150 


EPHESIANS ' 


tion of the submission emphasized in the former part of this 
paragraph. 

QUESTIONS 

Explain the domestic relation as presented in Ver. 22. 

In what sense is the husband the head of the wife as Christ 
is the Head of the Church? 

Give reason for Christ’s love for the church. 

In what sense does Christ Jesus nourish and cherish the 
Church? 

To whom are all the members, including the officers of the 
church, subject? 

Explain the mystery as presented in Genesis concerning Adam 
and Eve. Explain the mystery concerning Christ and the church. 

Give reasons for higher relations of man and wife than father 
and mother. 


2. CHILDREN AND PARENTS, 6:1-4 

In the preceding paragraph we considered the duty of wife 
to husband and members of the church to Christ; we have now 
to consider the duties of children to parents. The Christian 
family is the cradle and fortress of the Christian faith. When 
parents are thus united as expressed in the former paragraph, 
knowing their obligations to one another, the family honor is 
secure and a basis is had for reverence and discipline within the 
home, and so the Apostle turns in the opening of this sixth 
chapter, from the husband and wife to the children of the 
household. 

Ver. 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is 
right. 

The Apostle addresses these children as present in the 
assembly where the letter is read. Paul considered the children 
holy, even if but one parent belonged to the church (1 Cor. 
7 : 14). These children, no doubt, are of tender age and under 
parental care. Obedience is the law of childhood, and if the 
parents are in the Lord as expressed before, obedience is in 
a great part the child’s religion and that is to be practiced “in 
the Lord.” Jesus is the head over all things and is the authority 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


151 


of life of boys and girls. He is the head over the house, and 
in His love He guards the little one in the chamber of the home. 
The wonderful love of parents to their offspring and the awful 
authority with which they are invested can come only from 
those united with God through Christ. Christian men and 
women who understand just what God through Christ has done 
for the Church, how he does nourish and cherish and keep the 
Church under His own supervision, can by this more fully 
learn their relation to one another as parents, and with such 
an understanding, children in such homes, under such parents, 
have a great heritage. 

“For this is right.” It is right for children to obey their 
parents in the Lord. The right relation to the Church or the 
Head of the Church will bring right relation between parents, 
and right relation between parents in the Lord will bring sweet 
obedience from children to such parents. These children are 
brought into the home to take the place, in some future day, 
of those who gave them existence, and by the right nourish¬ 
ment and training will be able to establish homes of their own 
that will be as light-houses to the community in which they live. 

Ver. 2. Honour thy father and mother (which is the first 
commandment with promise). 

The Apostle reminds the children of the law and of the ten 
commandments taught them in their earliest childhood from the 
Scriptures. He calls their attention to the first commandment 
with promise and upon this the continuance of the church and 
of society depends. It is the first commandment with promise 
showing man’s relation to man on the table of stone written 
there by God Himself. It is not only the first commandment, 
but it is a commandment with a promise. It takes the form of 
a promise and holds out to obedience a bright future. It is 
indeed a promise and upon this promise salvation itself rests 
both externally and internally. 

Paul was not only thinking of the ten commandments as a 
part of the law given to the Jewish people or else he would 
have said then that this was the only commandment that has a 


152 


EPHESIANS 


promise through obedience. He meant that of all the Jewish 
laws, this was the first that had a promise attached to it and 
this promise was to the individual and nation. It is not an 
assurance that every child that obeys his parents will escape 
sickness and poverty and be prosperous and live to a good old 
age. It shows that a disobedient child makes disorder in 
the home and disorder in the nation, and the national disorder 
leads to the destruction of national life. If children honor their 
parents they make good citizens and a prosperous nation. 

Ver. 3. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live 
long on the earth. 

This is really the purport of the promise referred to in the 
former verse. The well-being is put in the front rank; the 
long life is second. Even among the most degraded people it 
will go well with him who honors his parents through obedience 
and his life will be long, at least in comparison to others. 

The promise made here in the Scriptures through inspira¬ 
tion is seldom presented to the children as a challenge for good 
behaviour. It must be because parents do not have the faith 
that they ought to have in things that the Scripture presents, and 
failing to transmit that faith unto the children it makes the 
children careless and they lack confidence in what God promises 
through right relationship of children to parents. 

Ver. 4. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: 
but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord 
(bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord). 

This instruction is made to all parents in the Lord, and 
if the parents are in the Lord and have the right relationship 
to one another and to the Church, the admonition given to 
fathers here would be well to heed. Parents must exercise great 
care not to provoke to disobedience if they expect children to 
be obedient. It is the hasty, rough treatment of children that 
destroys childish confidence and repels them to opposition in¬ 
stead of affection. The Apostle seems to allude to provoking 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


153 


by unreasonable blame and uncertain temper in ordinary home 
training and discipline. 

These instructions to the fathers apply to all who have 
charge of children; not only to fathers, but to pastors and 
teachers of every description whose work is among children. 
Many a child received his bias for life from the influence of 
the teacher before whom he sat in the day school or Sunday- 
school. The ideas which children form of Christ and His 
Church are gathered from what they see, in a large measure, 
manifested in the home. 

“But bring them up in nurture.” This admonition requires 
serious observance on the part of the parents that their children 
should belong to Christ and be under Christ’s care. The nurture 
is to be in the chastisement and admonition of the Lord. The 
children are also Christ’s subjects and have to be taught obedi¬ 
ence to His authority. The children’s redemption is by their 
birth into the world and if rightly instructed they will always 
be members of the Church. The parents have received the 
charge of their children from Christ and have, therefore, to 
nurture them in the admonition of the Lord. Let me emphasize 
this great need of the right admonition now so seldom witnessed 
in the home. The admonition the Apostle refers to is of the 
Lord. 

The primary condition of successful Christian parents is 
that they should care more for the loyalty of their children to 
Christ than for anything else. They should really care more 
for this than their health, their intellectual welfare and their 
prosperity or social activities. Their loyalty to Christ must 
be cared for, not because it will keep them from vices which 
might degrade and ruin but for its own sake and Christ’s sake. 
Only when our children have found eternal righteousness and 
eternal life in Him, has the trust we received from Him been 
successfully discharged. Only then have our children dis¬ 
charged their supreme duty and achieved their supreme blessed¬ 
ness. 

Parents should expect their children to be loyal to Christ. 


154 


EPHESIANS 


They are born in Christ by parents who are of the Body of 
Christ. They are born thus, into the Divine household, and 
as they are born into this Divine household, there should never 
be a time when the relationship between them and their Lord 
should not be confirmed and more clearly revealed. It will be 
a pleasure and a joy to the children to do that which they have 
learned in their childhood, because the children realize that 
they were instructed by parents who were obedient to what 
God’s Word teaches. 


QUESTIONS 

What is the duty of children toward their parents? 

Why say, “In the Lord”? 

What is the first commandment? 

What are the two things promised to those who honor their 
parents? 

What admonition is given to the fathers? 

What is meant by bringing children up in the admonition of 
the Lord? 

3. SERVANTS AND MASTERS, 6:5-9 

The Apostle has discussed the relation between husband and 
wife, showing how the wife must be in submission to the hus¬ 
band and the husband must do that which shows supreme love 
to his wife. Those parents who are in the Lord are reminded 
in the last paragraph, as to the training of children and the 
obedience of the children to the parents, and now further in¬ 
struction is given to this household concerning servants and 
masters. 

The Greeks regarded slavery as a fundamental institution 
indispensable to civilization. That the few might enjoy free¬ 
dom and culture, the many were doomed to bondage. Two or 
three facts will suffice to show slavery did deprive human rights 
in the different periods of the human race. 

In Athens it was the legal rule to admit the evidence of a 
slave only upon torture while that of a freeman was received 
upon oath. Amongst the Romans, if a master had been mur- 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


155 


dered in his house, the whole of his domestic servants, amount¬ 
ing sometimes to hundreds, were put to death without inquiry. 
The slave population outnumbered the free citizens of the 
Greek and Roman cities by many times. They were of the 
same race frequently and might be even superior in education 
to their Master. 

Now, this new religion was welcomed by the slaves of the 
Pagan cities. Welcome was the voice that said, “Come unto 
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you 
rest” (Matt. 11:28). They welcomed the proclamation that 
made them Christ’s freemen “brethren beloved,” where before 
they had been nothing but slaves and tools to those who were 
over them. In the light of such teaching, slavery was doomed. 

The social fabric, as it then existed, was so entirely based 
upon slavery, that for Christ and the Apostles to have pro¬ 
claimed its abolition would have meant universal anarchy. The 
Apostle Paul, in writing about his converted slave Onesimus, 
does not say, “Release him” (1 Cor. 7: 20-24). He even advises 
the slave, who might have had his freedom to remain where he 
is; to be content to be the Lord’s freeman. To the Christian 
slave what mattered it who ruled over his perishing body; his 
spirit was free, death would be his discharge. No decree was 
issued to abolish bond service between man and man; but it 
was destroyed in its essence by the Spirit of Christian brother¬ 
hood. 

Ver. 5. Servants, be obedient unto them that according to 
the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness 
(integrity) of your heart, as unto Christ. 

The Apostle does not disguise the slave’s subservience; nor 
does he speak in the language of pity or of condenscension. 
“Let every one be subject to the higher powers for there is no 
power but of God, and the powers that be are ordained of 
God” (Rom. 13:1). This means to obey the law and pay 
all taxes and tolls, to respect our moral duties which must 
be discharged by conscience sake and not merely to avoid pun¬ 
ishment. In the church Christ was honored as the true Lord. 


156 


EPHESIANS 


Slavery is dealt with in a way by the Apostle Paul that 
even the slave can become a member of Christ’s Body. When 
the Jews and Gentiles came into relationship with Christ as 
members of His Body they no more remain Greeks or Jews 
or slaves, but are one in Christ Jesus, and although the body 
is under submission to the master who has authority over the 
slave, yet that in no sense destroys the freedom that Christ 
gives him in the Church. 

“Masters according to the flesh,”—earthly masters, whose 
dominion does not extend beyond the things of this world. 
This obedience was more clearly designated with fear and 
trembling. It does not refer to anger and punishment. The 
Apostle in referring to this class, hits upon the particular vices 
which characterize slavery, indolence and carelessness. 

The Apostle Paul (Col. 3:24) says, “Ye are slaves to the 
Lord Christ.” Saint Paul was accustomed to call him¬ 
self a slave of Christ Jesus. We have it stated that Christ 
Jesus took the form of a slave (Phil. 2:7). The relation of 
servant and master will endure in one shape or another while 
the world stands, and the Apostle’s injunctions bear upon 
servants of every order. We are all servants in some capacity, 
servants of the community. There must be a genuine care 
for our work. It is obedience that is emphasized here. The 
fear enjoined is not dread of human displeasure, of the master’s 
whip or tongue, but fear of doing that which would displease 
the beloved One. 

Ver. 6. Not in the way of eye service, as menpleasers; but as 
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. 

This is the principle of the Greek and Roman slaves and it 
is natural from the motive under which servants act who have 
been brought up in the fear of man instead of the fear of 
God. We were told in the former verse that this should be 
done in singleness of heart. This shows the method or maxim 
of service. 

The reference is not simply to compulsion or the appearance 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


157 


of service as menpleasers, that is, not to please men alone. 
Men can only see what is before their eyes. They use their 
master’s human weakness to their own advantage. It is the 
common fault and temptation of servants in all degrees to 
observe the master’s eye, and to work busily or slackly as they 
are watched. Such workmen act as they do, because they look 
to men and not to God. Their work is without conscience and 
self-respect The visible human master says, “Well done,” to 
all pretentious doing through eye service, but there is another 
master looking on who says, “Ill done,” who sees not as man 
sees, but judges the motive and intent that causes the act. We 
will have to remember that within the book of accounts there 
is a stern reckoning in store for deceitful dealers and the 
makers of unsound goods in whatever way it is manifested. 
Many overseers can be dismissed when every servant works 
as well behind his master’s back as to his face, when every 
manufacturer and shopkeeper puts himself in the purchaser’s 
place and deals as he would have others deal with him. 

“But as the servants of Christ.” As slaves of Christ doing 
the will of God; from the soul with good will doing service, 
as to the Lord and not to man. Their work must be done from 
the inner principle with thought and affection and resolution 
spent upon it. It must be in any service, that we are conscious 
of the onlooker, who bought us and whom we are to please. 
In this verse we have a distinction made between Christians 
who make simply a profession but do not the will of God and 
those who know and do His will. 

Ver. 7. With good will doing service, as unto the Lord, and 
not unto men. 

The Christian shown in this verse is compared to the one 
in Ver. 6. He is doing good will and good service unto the 
Lord. He is subject unto the Lord, and not careless and 
indifferent, simply a pleaser of those who are over him in the 
flesh. Paul concludes the seventh verse by saying, “And not 
unto men.” We must know that we serve the Lord and not 


158 


EPHESIANS 


men. The earthly master may not give the slave his just 
reward, or his labor may fail to be recognized for its integrity 
and zeal, but Christ’s servants will not miss their full reward 
for all work in harmony with His instruction. 

Ver. 8. Knowing that whatsoever good thing each one doeth, 
the same shall he receive again from the Lord, whether he be 
bond (slave) or free (freeman). 

No good work will be forgotten. The reward which is 
withheld while on earth will be conferred upon us in Heaven. 
The slave’s reward is defined in the epistle to the Colossians 
as being a participation in the spiritual inheritance. In Rome 
the slave was regarded as a chattle incapable of inheriting or 
possessing. 

“Whether he be bond or free.” That is, whatsoever be 
his social condition, the future has in store for him untold 
blessings. 

Ver. 9. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, and 
forbear threatening: knowing that both their Master and yours is 
in Heaven, and there is no respect of persons with Him. 

This refers back both to the will of God from the heart, 
to good will and to the submitting yourselves one to another” 
(Ver. 21). The Apostle had stooped to the slave and he was 
not afraid to speak directly to the master. “And forbear 
threatening.” Their authority is only subordinate and tem¬ 
porary. The true master of slaves is Christ. He will leave 
no wrong unredressed. 

“Knowing that your master and theirs is also in Heaven.” 
This refers to the master and servant as standing in equality 
before Him. The master that helps the latter helps the former 
and will give each his due. He is in Heaven. He comes from 
Heaven and judges. With the Lord there is no respect of 
persons. All have one master in Heaven, and there is no 
difference in reference to any man’s life whether he is rich 
or poor, whether he rule or serve, if he is obedient to the 
will of God. It ought to lift up our church society and in¬ 
dividual life in the loyalty to God. 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


159 


QUESTIONS 

Give meaning of servants in Ver. 5. 

What obedience is emphasized in this verse? 

Why say, “In singleness of heart”? 

Meaning of servants and menpleasers. 

Whose master is in Heaven? 

How is the will of God done from the heart? 

Explain the paragraph, “There is no respect of persons with 
Him.” 

VI. The Christian Armor—Equipment for the Con¬ 
flict and Victory, 6:10-20 

The Christian church, founded by a crucified Christ here 
on earth is engaged in a great war. All Christians elected 
according to the foreknowledge of God are enrolled in this 
great army and are called to active service. The conflict is 
not against flesh and blood as our attention has been called 
to in the different Scriptures by the same author; not against 
visible and human foes, persecuting governments, unjust 
magistrates, violent mobs, but against invisible and superhuman 
powers animated an inspired by Satan himself, with a deep and 
irreconcilable hatred of God and righteousness. Now for this 
battle that is raging constantly in which the true followers of 
Christ are engaged; God alone can give us the strength and 
the arms which are necessary to defend ourselves, to support 
our comrades and destroy the enemy. Therefore the Apostle 
calls our attention to this great need. 

1. THE FOES OF THE CHURCH, 6:10-12 

Ver. 10. Finally (my brethren), be strong in the Lord, and 
in the strength of his might. 

Paul was living in a period in which the Church, the Body 
of Christ, was meeting with tremendous conflict in its onward 
progress. Leaders were falling by the sword, some slain by 
enemies which could be seen, others from powers unseen. Paul 
realized this fact and gives warning to all who are with him 
in this tremendous conflict. 


160 


EPHESIANS 


Here, as the Apostle soars in meditation, he does not forget 
the situation of his readers. The Apostle’s words (4: 14) show 
us how well aware he was of the dangers looming before the 
church to which he was writing. In studying the other two 
prison Epistles we find this conflict is constantly present with 
the author, “For I would that you knew what great conflict I 
have for you and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as 
have not seen my face in the flesh” (Col. 2:1). 

In writing that Epistle, the Apostle Paul was beset with 
Spiritual forces, mighty for evil, which had commenced their 
attack on the outlying posts of Ephesian provinces. He sees in 
the sky the cloud portending a desolate storm. The clash of 
hostile arms is heard approaching; and it entered into his own 
deepest experiences. He gives the church to understand, that 
as the Head of the church had to suffer to establish a church 
which has an aim directly opposite to the aim of the world, 
so the members of that society must have incarnate in them¬ 
selves the spirit of suffering and be moved by the same love 
and sacrifice in order to offer to the world that for which the 
Head died. 

Paul means to say that this is no time for sloth or fear, 
for the half-hearted or half-equipped. Every one of us has 
need of the best equipment of Spiritual armor to hold the 
ground in the conflict that is coming upon this society in every 
period, until the Master Himself returns. 

Paul’s cry is “To arms!” Preparation must be made and 
equipment secured before the enemy is upon us. The Chris¬ 
tian cannot fight this battle himself. He must make the strength 
of another his strength. “Who hath blessed us with all spiritual 
blessings in Heavenly places in Christ” (1:3). “And hath 
raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus” (2:6). This shows the Christian’s 
exalted place in the world. He belongs to the society that was 
in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, an elect 
company made up by paying the price of the death of His own 
Son. Paul teaches us that this company of believers is now 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


161 


dwelling in the Heavenlies where the Head, Christ, now is 
(Rom. 8: 26-39), and that there is no separation from the love 
of Christ, the Head of His Body, the Church. Back of this 
company is our Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and 
the Holy Spirit. Equipped to fight under this organization, no 
matter what the unseen forces of evil may be, one knows before 
the conflict begins that one fights on the side of victory. 

Ver. 11. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be 
able to stand against the wiles of the Devil (crafty ways of the 
enemy). 

Our Lord Jesus Christ described Himself in the conflict with 
Satan. Christ equips the members of His Body with this 
whole armor to meet the counter-attacks of Satan and the power 
of evil. Those who study carefully the origin of evil will 
learn that Satan, who is heading the forces of evil, has a great 
host fighting with him. He also furnishes them with the 
equipment by which to do their work. There is a Heavenly 
unseen power-house of equipment. Christ’s weapons are tem¬ 
pered in Heaven and are wielded by the sons of light (Rom. 
13:12). There is also an unseen power-house of equipment 
for those who are interested in the world, and these weapons 
are wielded by the men who belong to darkness. Now these 
weapons of warfare on the two sides are as the two leaders who 
furnish them. Christ, the strong one armed, is the stronger. 
The weapons are faith and love against unbelief and hate. 
The Scripture says (1 John 4:4), “Greater is he that is within 
you than he that is in the world.” Greater is Christ who fur¬ 
nishes you with this armor than he that is in the world, as 
represented by unbelief and hatred. 

“That ye may be able to stand.” There is no question but 
what the New Testament assumes the personality of Satan. 
Satan and Hell are clearly set forth in the Word of God, but 
this runs contrary to modern thought. This teaching concern¬ 
ing the evil spirits given to us in the Bible, the Word of God, 
is treated as an absurdity and superstition and the name of the 
evil one, Satan, with many people is only a careless jest. All 


162 


EPHESIANS 


who are acquainted with the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ 
have learned that Satan is no mere figure of speech, but he is 
a thinking and active being whose presence and influence is 
manifested in this evil world. 

Now the Lord Jesus Himself, the Head of the Church, 
speaks what He knows and testifies what He Himself has seen 
concerning the mystery of this evil force in the world. There 
can be no question of the existence of a personal devil. Im¬ 
mediately after Christ was baptized He was taken into the 
wilderness and there, three times, was tested as the King of the 
Jews, and personally encountered Satan, and it therefore en¬ 
tered into His own deepest experience. In order to bring 
about the best that God has for His people, Christ could in no 
sense enter into any compromise with this evil power. 

The first prophecy of the Bible is, “The seed of the woman 
shall bruise the serpent’s head.” Jesus taught His Disciples 
to pray that they might be delivered from the evil one, Satan. 
The victims whom He healed from disease and madness were 
so many captives rescued from the malignant power of Satan. 
Now Jesus fulfilled in part the prophecy and had to meet His 
death. He viewed it as the supreme conflict with the usurper 
who claimed to be the “Prince of the world.” Falsehood and 
hatred are his chief characteristics. Jesus called him the man- 
slayer, and the father of lies. Through his influence man be¬ 
came disobedient to God. 

“Against the wiles of the devil.” The devil here is the active 
and precise enemy. Through him sin is in the world.. The 
armor of God and the wiles of the devil are thus opposed to 
each other. The contest is difficult and hence the next state¬ 
ment: 

Ver. 12. For our wrestling (our conflict) is not against flesh 
and blood, but against the principalities (governments), against the 
powers (authorities), against the world-rulers of this darkness, 
against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

Chief among the wiles of the Devil, perhaps, at this time, 
was the scheme of error, which is cunningly presented, and the 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


163 


Apostle feared that those in the church would be endangered. 
Satan’s empire is ruled with a settled policy and his warfare 
is carried on with a system of strategy which takes advantage 
of every opening to attack. Now such is the gigantic opponent 
with which Christ and the Church have been in conflict through 
all the ages. The Apostle even teaches that the contest is more 
than against flesh and blood. Underneath and beyond what is 
human and sinful, Satan himself is active. Flesh and blood 
to him is only the division of the armies seen and unseen. The 
contest with flesh and blood is not, however, on this account 
excluded. 

James writes, “Be subject therefore unto God; but resist 
the devil and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4: 7). Paul declares 
that the god of this world hath blinded the eyes of the un¬ 
believing, that the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus 
Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them 
(2 Cor. 4:4). Paul has warned the Ephesians that if they yield 
to the excitement and violence of uncontrolled passion they 

will “give place to the devil” (4:26,27). He tells the Christians 
at Corinth to beware of men who will come to them with false 

teaching and claim to be Apostles of Christ, and to give urgency 
to his warning he adds, “Even Satan fashioneth himself as an 
angel of light. It is no great thing, therefore, if his ministers 
also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 
11:14, 15). 

The Apostle speaks of “your adversary the devil—whom 
withstand, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8, 9). In the 
short epistle written by John, he has no less than six or seven 
references to this dark and evil power. “I write unto you, 
young men, because ye have overcome the evil one. I have 
written unto you, young men, because ye are strong and the 
word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the evil 
one” (1 John 2:13, 14). “He that doeth sin is of the devil; for 
the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the 
Son of God manifested that He might destroy the works of 
the Devil” (1 John 3:8). “In this the children of God are 


164 


EPHESIANS 


manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not 
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his 
brother” (1 John 3:10). “Cain was of the evil one and slew 
his brother” (1 John 3:12). “We know that whosoever is 
begotten of God sinneth not; but He that was begotten of 
God keepeth him, and the evil one toucheth him not” (1 John 
5:18). “The whole world lieth in the evil one” (1 John 5:19). 
There are other passages in this same book that the Apostle is 
using to show unto us that he at this time realized a personality 
at the head of this onward progress of evil. 

Christ, although He died on the cross and ascended into 
Heaven, did not dislodge and dethrone a prince whose power 
and malignity were only the fantastic product of a gloomy 
imagination. It was not for Him—the judge whose lips are to 
pronounce the sentence which will secure eternal life and blessed¬ 
ness or doom and eternal death—to warn men that He will 
condemn them to eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his 
angels, if there is no devil to destroy and if there are no evil 
angels to share his destruction. The subject was one of active 
controversy between rival Jewish sects. In using the popular 
language, Christ took sides on this very question with the one 
sect and against the other, and that He should have supported 
opinions which He knew were false, is inconceivable. 

‘But against principalities, and against powers, and against 
rulers of darkness of this world, and against spiritual wicked¬ 
ness in high places.” They are here entitled principalities and 
powers after the same style as the angels of God, to whose 
ranks, as we are compelled to believe, these apostates once be¬ 
longed. The angels of Satan have become associates with him 
as the god of this world and swaying the dominion of darkness, 
he is the ruler of the world of darkness. Nero was the wicked 
emperor of Rome when Paul was writing this and was under 
the direction of Satan. Pilate also was a specimen, by no means 
among the worst of the men in power. Jesus regarded him 
with pity. 

St. Paul’s demonology is identical with that of Jesus’. The 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


165 


two doctrines stand or fall together. The advent of Christ 
appears to have stirred to extraordinary activity the satanic 
powers. Satanic powers in an age of scepticism like our own 
are the wiles of the devil and work obscurely. The fight is 
not against flesh and blood. We need metal of another kind. 
The foes of our faith are untouched by carnal weapons. They 
come upon us without being detected by sense of seeing or hear¬ 
ing. They assail the will and conscience. They follow us into 
the regions of spiritual thought, or prayer and meditation. 
Hence, the weapons of our warfare, like those which the 
Apostle wielded (2 Cor. 10:2-5), are not carnal, but spiritual 
and mighty toward God. 

The Apostle had personal enemies to meet. There were 
wild beasts with whom Saint Paul fought at Ephesus, the 
heathen mobs of the city, then Alexander the coppersmith, 
ready to do the Apostle evil, and the Jews from Asia, a party 
of whom all but murdered him in Jerusalem. You have read 
of Demetrius the silversmith who was at the head of a mob 
that drove him out of Ephesus because Paul damaged the trade 
of those who sold idols through the progress of this new reli¬ 
gion. These were formidable foes, but simply brought terror 
to the flesh and body, yet back of this opposition was a mightier 
foe. The center of the struggle lies elsewhere. The Apostle 
looks beyond the ranks of his earthly foes. The church has 
all the time been undergoing an inner conflict with systems of 
error which were in the mind of the age. These forces opposed 
the Christian truth from without. They become far more 
dangerous when they find their way into the church, under¬ 
mining her teaching and practice. The religious world is won- 
derously divided. The division comes by believing different 
isms, introduced by men not thoroughly grounded in the Word 
of Truth, not able to “contend earnestly for the faith once 
delivered unto the saints.” 

God has placed us in this new society, this church that 
Christ Himself is building. It is standardized by the Word 
of God. In all ages God has had a separate people. Men and 

Vol. 3—12 


166 


EPHESIANS 


1 


women who come into that society and are playing for an 
influence over the world to establish a standard more liberal 
than the Word of God, are giving Satan his way in the church 
and using his influence to modernize what is known as the truth 
of God. It is then that the Word becomes standardized and 
influenced by the leaders who are not acquainted thoroughly 
with the program of God. 

The church is made up of members known as the Body 
of Christ, who dwell in Heavenly places and because of this 
are assailed by the powers of Hell. Christ died on the cross 
because His teaching was in direct opposition to a church already 
influenced by the teachings of the world. The Church that has 
Christ for its Head is in opposition to the world and is attacked 
by Satan, as Christ Himself was, so it is no wonder that Paul 
teaches that, “If so be that we suffer with Him that we may 
also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8: 17). The “Glorified with 
Him” means only those who suffer with Him and not those 
who are building separate bodies. 

“In the heavenlies.” Through Christ we have been exalted. 
We are in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our Head is in 
Heaven. Our foes try to take Heaven from us. If we keep 
on dwelling in Heavenly places and our associations are right 
with the different members of the Body of Christ and we ever 
look to our Head for whom the Body is being built, no matter 
what the influences may be that play upon us, we shall be able 
to hold our place and gain our victory through Him who is 
known as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

QUESTIONS 

Why say, “From henceforth be strong in the Lord”? 

How can the Christian best meet the foes of the church? 

Explain meaning of “wiles of the devil.” 

Is there no wrestling against flesh and blood? 

What two great forces are in opposition to each other? 

Who are the leaders of both forces? 

What is the source of the armor used by the enemies of the 
church? 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


167 


How do these enemies attack us, who are organized as hosts 
of wickedness, in Heavenly places? 

2. THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD, 6:13-18 

The Christians are raised to Heavenly places of fellowship 
with Christ and invested with lofty characters as sons and chil¬ 
dren of God, and as such, they must hold their ground. They 
must maintain the honor of their calling and have secure their 
highest state, thus being able to stand fast in the grace that 
is in Christ Jesus. Every good soldier of Christ Jesus con¬ 
tends for his Heavenly city and household of faith. Now the 
defense that the Apostle speaks about here is for an evil day 
that is coming. The Apostle Paul foresaw the crisis of extreme 
danger to which the Church of Christ, during this age of grace, 
would be exposed. Christ taught from the first that as He 
was in the world, so they would be in the world, and that there 
would be constant conflict and opposition by the world in hold¬ 
ing the truth as presented by the Lord Jesus Christ. Every 
desperate struggle of Christ’s Body must finally result in 
triumph. 

In the second epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul presents to 
the church some of the forecasts of Christ’s visions and judg¬ 
ments. It culminates in the evil day of Antichrist, which is to 
usher in the coming of the Lord Jesus. This consummation, 
as the Apostle was inclined to think, might arrive within the 
generation in which he lived, although he declared its times 
and seasons are wholly unknown. The final day of the Lord 
Jesus Christ is sure to come. There is a great crisis to be met 
by Paul and the church to whom he is writing. They were 
approaching the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering 
of the people who had returned to Palestine. 

Ver. 13. Wherefore take up the whole (complete) armor of 
God, that ye may be able to withstand (resist) in the evil day, 

and having done all, to stand. 

This is every Christian’s duty. It is an armor offered with¬ 
out money and without price to every soldier who enlists to 


168 


EPHESIANS 


fight under the banner of the King. It is the armor that is 
prepared in Heaven’s munition plant and has been tried out, 
and those who fought under the protection of this whole armor 
found it not burdensome to wear but that it gave security and 
confidence of protection and victory. No one can go into this 
conflict with the unseen foe, having been careless concerning 
any part of the armor furnished us by One who is to lead 
on to victory. 

“That ye may be able to stand” and “that ye may be able 
to withstand.” That is, that ye may be prepared for the 
approaching evil period into which we are being ushered. 
“Stand” is the watchword for this battle. The Apostle’s order 
for the day, “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles 
of the devil” and that ye may be able to withstand in the evil 
day, the day of peril, and “having done all, to stand.” That 
is, having accomplished all that we can accomplish and yet be 
able to stand. It is the victorious keeping the field in the 
place of contest, the opposite of yielding, of being thrown 
down. The Apostle here treats of doing the Divine will in 
order to make the way through all assaults and conflicts from 
the organized forces of demons, without being led astray or 
weakened. 

The armor consists of seven pieces, offensive and defensive, 
if we count prayer. These make up the whole armor: (1) the 
girdle of truth, (2) the breastplate of righteousness, (3) the 
shoes of readiness to bear the message of peace, (4) the shield 
of faith, (5) the helmet of salvation, (6) the sword of the 
Word, and (7) the cry of prayer. 

Ver. 14. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, 
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. 

Stand ready for the fight. The soldier, in girding himself 
for the field, fastens around his waist the military belt. To 
this he binds his garments that there may be none loose or 
trailing about him, and prepares himself for action. Every¬ 
thing about the warrior is tense and firm; his dress, his figure 
and movements speak of decision and concentrated energy. He 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


169 


stands before us, an image of resolution, impressing us with 
the fact that his mind is made up. This is what comes to us 
from the person that is “girt about with truth.” It is the 
solemn conviction of what we believe. If the Christian is 
girdled with truth, he will be honest and upright and will not 
lie or deceive. It is the truth that is in Jesus that is his girdle. 

You must dwell in this truth of Jesus and make it your 
own. Only by faithful searching and being honest will this 
truth become the girdle of truth to the soldiers of the cross. 
This is an age when faith should be strengthened through a 
better knowledge of God and His Word. We need the faith 
of an intelligent, firm, and manly assurance, a faith that does 
not depend upon intellectual greatness or physical security, 
but lays hold of the truth of Jesus Christ. In other words, 
it is the Word of God that furnishes us with the girdle, or 
the girdle is furnished by God Himself, but it is truth of the 
Word from which the girdle is made. Truth appropriated is 
made into a girdle of strength, firmness and decision of Chris¬ 
tian life and action. It relieves us from the entanglement and 
distraction which comes from uncertainty and doubt and gives 
us a complete command of all our vigor. It can only be said 
of those who do this, that they are able to stand because the 
truth that is in Christ Jesus has made it possible for God to 
furnish the girdle through which to secure them for action. 

“And having on the breastplate of righteousness.” This 
protects the vital organs of the soldier. In the picture drawn 
in 1 Thess. (5:8), the breastplate is made of faith and love. 
It is the state of one who is right with God and God’s law. 
It is the righteousness both of standing and of character. These 
are never separate in the true doctrine of grace. The righteous¬ 
ness that is of faith, is the soul’s main defense against the 
shafts of Satan. Does the enemy bring up against you the 
old sins? You meet it at once by saying, “It is God that 
justifieth; who is he that condemneth” (Rom. 8: 33, 34) ? There 
is wonderful protection in this breastplate of righteousness. 
From this breastplate the arrows of the tempter fall pointless. 


170 


EPHESIANS 


“He that doeth righteousness is righteous. He that is born 
of God doth not commit sin” (1 John 3:7-9). 

Ver. 15. And having shod your feet with the preparation of 
the Gospel (glad tidings) of peace. 

The soldier thus having on the girdle of truth and the 
breastplate of righteousness, must as he enters this army look 
well to his feet. He is provided shoes of wonderful make. 
Now, what is the quality of the shoes most needed ? The soldier 
must have on his feet shoes by which he may move with alert¬ 
ness over all sorts of ground. The Apostle’s feet were shod with 
shoes of this kind. This is the spirit of a man who was ready 
to move forward against any opposition. You can hear him 
say that he is ready to preach the glad tiding to all who are in 
Rome. 

“Having shod your feet,” you are thus shod with the 
preparation of the gospel of peace (Cp. Isa. 52:7; Nahum 
1:15). It is the Gospel of God. It is the Gospel of conflict 
with the world. While it is in conflict with the world, it is the 
Gospel that brings peace to the soul. It gives man the right 
relationship to God. The fact that God is at peace with us 
gives us confidence. We are not merely ready; we are eager 
for every good work. We are like a man whose feet are well 
shod. They can stand firm and they can run. They are 
prepared to resist the shock of the enemy’s assault. They 
strike him and pursue him when the assault is repelled. We 
are soldiers having our feet shod with preparation. This is 
the readiness of the Gospel of peace. These shoes are fur¬ 
nished to you by the one who sends you out on the mission 
of peace. 

Ver. 16. Withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye 
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 

That is, in addition to. It means, in all things and under 
all occasions, having on the girdle of truth and the breastplate 
of righteousness, the feet properly shod with the gospel of 
peace, we are now ready for the shield of faith. There are 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


171 


thousands of perils against which faith, love, and power of 
God are our only protection. With all our civilization and edu¬ 
cation, we have perhaps never stood so much in need of faith 
as in this hour of gloom. The hopes that men cherish of a 
Golden age, concerning which they are trying to unite the 
forces, seem to us nothing more than the illusions of the 
imagination which can never satisfy the heart’s unrest, because 
such a union is not in harmony with the teaching of God’s 
Word. God Himself is our shield, hence it is faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ that is our security. 

The shield was made of hides and metal, curved round so 
as to protect the whole body. This would protect the soldier 
from the fiery darts of the enemy. The shield of faith pro¬ 
tects the soldier, so that the fiery darts of the enemy fall ex¬ 
tinguished at his feet. Such is the shield of faith by which 
“we will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked 
one.” In this hour of anguish we are like soldiers wounded 
by the darts. We want to be safe when that evil day comes. 
It must find us with strong and invincible faith in God. This 
will be a perfect defense apart from which we can have no 
secure protection. No wonder the Apostle after presenting the 
girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and feet shod 
with readiness of the gospel of peace, emphasizes this shield of 
faith so much needed in this evil day of doubt and modernism 
when many lose out because they are not willing to wear the 
armour that Christ has furnished for protection. 

Ver. 17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of 
the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 

We are insecure until we make completely our own the 
great redemption that God has achieved for us in Christ. The 
man and woman that is secure is made so by a proper standing 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christ who bought him has 
given him complete salvation. He now has experienced salva¬ 
tion by forgiveness; by faith in the thing that God says, he 
stands justified before God. He testifies by actions and words, 
not in any uncertain way, but as a positive witness for God. 


172 


EPHESIANS 


There are too many soldiers now fighting for the Lord 
without such a helmet. We have the hope of looking forward 
to a glorious return of the Lord. We are conscious of the 
infinite power and grace of God. These different parts of the 
armor are all given us for the defensive: the girdle of truth, 
the breastplate, the shoes, the shield, the helmet, but a soldier 
needs more than simply protection. An army with soldiers who 
are simply depending upon protection and nothing more, cannot 
be counted upon. We must have a weapon for conquest—“The 
Sword of the Spirit.” We must have weapons for attacking 
and destroying the enemy. We belong to an army and are 
fighting for victory and for the complete destruction of the 
armies and power of the spiritual hosts of the wicked one. It 
is not enough that we have personal safety, but we are to fight 
the enemies with a Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. 

The world is full of doubt, the world is full of religions. 
These doubts and these religions that are without the Christ 
must not only be repelled but they must be destroyed. Of the 
Messiah it was said in language quoted by the Apostle against 
Anti-Christ (2 Thess. 2:8), “He shall smite the earth with 
the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he 
slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4). Similar in Hosea: “There¬ 
fore have I hewed them by His prophets, I have slain them 
by the words of His mouth” (Hosea 6:5). Again in Hebrews 
(4:12), “The word of God living and active, sharper than 
any two-edged sword.” (Also see Rev. 1: 16, 2:12, 19:13-15.) 

This Sword of the Spirit—the Word of God—the Apostle 
Paul wielded with superhuman effect. He rebuked the sorcerer, 
he defended the Gospel against the Judaizers of Galatia and 
Corinth. 

“Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not 
pass away.” The Son of Man put it to test in his temptation 
in the wilderness. Satan himself sought to resist this sword. 
With adulterated truths in his mouth he tempted our Lord. 
Jesus, who is truth, repelled Satan and drove him from the 
field and said, “Get thee behind me Satan.” 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


173 


The soldier is harnessed from head to foot. He is clothed 
in arms that are supernatural. We must be strong, but our 
strength must be of some one else and that is the Lord. With 
all these equipments the Apostle goes a step farther: 

Ver. 18. With all prayer and supplication praying at all sea¬ 
sons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and 
supplication for all the saints. 

So the Apostle adds this besides. It is essential to be 
mentioned in connection with the offensive and defensive work 
of the children of God. It is not a needless repetition. God 
speaks to man in His Word; man talks to God in prayer. 
The Bible is the best book on prayer. Only those who know 
God and His Word can talk to Him in a way that pleases Him 
and to these He will be willing to make His program for 
humanity known. 

We must know our Captain and talk to Him and He to us 
at every turn of this great battle in which we are on the 
defensive and using the offensive weapon. Christian prayer is 
always in the Spirit, being offered in the grace and power of 
the Holy Spirit, who is the indwelling Person in the Body 
which is the temple of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit 
helps our infirmities and weaknesses and virtually intercedes 
for us (Rom. 8:26, 27). 

“And watching thereunto with all perserverance.” Prayer 
is of necessity, both for our own defense and for the destruc¬ 
tion of the Kingdom of darkness. The Christian needs to be 
on his guard. Perseverance here is necessary. Prayer is an 
education. The Master taught us how to pray. He is a good 
Teacher. He hears our prayers and brings them to the Father. 
The Holy Spirit helps us make these prayers, if we are willing 
to have them made in harmony with the will of God and 
“supplication for all the saints.” 

It is in the church at large that the Apostle Paul is in¬ 
terested. Every Christian equipped with this armor will be in 
constant training in the use of the Sword of the Spirit. He 
talks to God in behalf of every member of the Body of Christ. 


174 


EPHESIANS 


By the bonds of prayer we are knit together—a band of saints 
throughout the earth, unknown by face or name to our fellows, 
but one in love of Christ and all engaged in the same perilous 
and victorious conflict. 


QUESTIONS 

Why was it necessary to take the whole armor of God? 

What is the evil day referred to in Ver. 13? 

If it is so important to stand, are we making the required 
preparation? 

Name the defensive and offensive weapons. 

Explain each defensive armor. 

Give the offensive weapon and its use. 

How may we learn to pray as suggested here? 

For whom should we pray? 

3. PERSONAL APPLICATION OF PRAYER, 6:19-20 

(Cp. Col. 4:2-4) 

We had introduced the cry of prayer with the armor, be¬ 
lieving that he who has this is completely armed. It was cus¬ 
tomary of the Grecian armies, before they engaged in a con¬ 
flict, to offer prayers to their gods for their success and the 
Apostle shows that these spiritual warriors must depend upon 
the Captain of their salvation for help and victory. We should 
be ever ready for public and private communion with God in the 
great interest of safety and progress, both of ourselves and 
the church, because everything depends upon Him who is our 
Captain, who can alone save and can alone destroy. The Apostle 
exhorted the Christian to pray with all prayer. It may be 
performed in public, in the family, in the closet, in the heart, 
on the way, without a voice, and with a voice from the heart. 
Now all of these are necessary to a genuine Christian. He 
whose heart is right with God will be frequent in prayer. 

The author of these church letters was especially conscious 
of the opposing forces that had to be met. The Apostle stood 
in the forefront of this great battle. He was a soldier for the 
cause of His Master, Christ. He was a mark for the attacks 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


175 


of the enemies of the Gospel, and he prays more than any for 
the safety and progress of the Christian Church (Phil. 1:25). 
At this time he naturally says, “Watching unto prayer in all 
perseverance, and supplication for all the saints.” 

Ver. 19. And on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto 
me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mys¬ 
tery (secret) of the Gospel. 

He was in need of a strong heart in this conflict when the 
opposition is more than that which comes from flesh and blood, 
by unseen foes on each side. The most difficult to meet are 
those who find their way into the church and pretend to be true 
to the Word and yet use their influence for material gain in 
a large measure, and make it almost impossible for men who 
are true to the Word to stand against those whom Paul calls 
false brethren. Paul was under the inspiration of the Holy 
Spirit and made much of his Heavenly allies. This privilege 
was continually open to him and this great teacher of the 
Gentiles, with unlimited faith, and with the girdle of truth, 
was able to open his mouth and speak forth the words of Truth. 

Would it not have been a tremendous blow upon the early 
Christian Churches if the enemy could have closed his mouth; 
in some way closed the channel through which inspiration came 
to him, and instead of being the great teacher of the Gentiles, 
which increased faith in the Truth, would have commenced to 
question the authority of the Word of God and occasionally 
presented doubt instead of truth? In any century such a man 
as Paul giving way would have been a sore discouragement to 
the friends of Christ. In this letter (3:13) Paul says, “My 
afflictions are your glory, my unworthy testimony of Christ in 
the showing forth in praise of all men and angels” (Phil. 1:20; 
2 Tim. 4: 17). “Pray for me then that I may speak and act 
in this hour of trial in a manner worthy of the dispensation 
given me.” 

Now strong and confident as the Apostle was, he felt him¬ 
self to be nothing without prayer. In the study of all his writ¬ 
ings we learn that he expected the support in intercession of all 


176 


EPHESIANS 


who loved him in Christ. He knew and experienced that he 
was helped by this means on numberless occasion and ways, 
and now he asks right here, “Pray for me/’ The specific thing 
that he wants them to pray for is utterance, that this gift may 
be given him from the Lord. 

“That I may open my mouth boldly.” He is asking for 
courage, fulness, freedom, and fit opportunity. A word thus 
uttered in the opening of the mouth by God, is God’s Word. 
He therefore wished the word, not for himself and his heart, 
hut a word in his mouth for others in the furtherance of the 
conflict which tends to peace. 

Jesus said to His apostles, “It shall be given to you in that 
hour, what you shall speak when brought before the rulers and 
kings” (Matt. 10: 18-20). The Apostle now stands before the 
Roman world. He has appealed to Caesar and awaits his trial. 
If he has not yet appeared at the empire’s tribunal, he shortly 
will have to do so. Christ’s ambassador is about to appear in 
chains before the highest of human courts. It is not his own 
life or freedom that he is concerned about. It is not flesh and 
blood that he is thinking of. The ambassador has only to con¬ 
sider how he will represent his sovereign’s interest. Christ is 
his Master; is his Lord, and now shall he be true, clothed with 
Christ’s armor, when he stands before the man of the Roman 
court? The man wearing the girdle of truth, who is the mouth¬ 
piece of the Holy Spirit, cannot but be subject to His individual 
thought or will. 

Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, I speak not 
of myself.” The Apostle intends to open his mouth and he 
knows for whom he must open it, so he must have the true 
word given unto him. Now, can we not pray for Christ’s am¬ 
bassadors and especially for men who are the mouthpieces of 
God, that when they open their mouths, they may only open 
them to present the message given by the Master Himself? 

He wants boldness to make known the mystery of the Gospel. 
He wants freedom and confidence of speech. Paul realizes the 
fact that the Gospel is a mystery. The Apostle was separated 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


177 


unto the Gospel of God. This Gospel of God is a revelation 
from God. In this Gospel is revealed the righteousness of 
God which is received by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This 
part of the Gospel, however, was not hidden from before the 
creation of the world. It was set forth in the Old Testament 
in types and figures, and revealed in the New Testament, but the 
mystery referred to here is a secret concerning this Gospel that 
was hidden from before the foundation of the world. It was 
hidden in God and never presented in the Scriptures for man 
until it was made known to the Apostle Paul. 

He writes this church letter for this age of grace and now 
the Apostle asks the prayers of the saints, that he might have 
boldness not only to reveal the Gospel, but to reveal this mystery 
concerning the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The middle 
wall or partition is broken down between Jew and Gentile, 
and this mystery is the making out of individuals, from these 
separate nations, through regeneration, One New Man, a 
society, a Church, known as the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ver. 20. For which I am an ambassador in (bonds) chains; 
that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 

An ambassador is a representative of a King. His person 
is in all countries held sacred. Contrary to the rites of nations, 
this ambassador of the King of Heaven was put in chains. He 
had, however, the opportunity to defend himself and to vin¬ 
dicate the honor of his Master. 

“That therein, I may speak boldly.” That is, in matters of 
the Gospel mystery. “They have bound me but they cannot 
bind the Word of God” (2 Tim. 1: 7-12). He was not ashamed 
of the Gospel when he came to Rome years before (Rom. 
1:16), and he is not ashamed now, though he has come in 
chains as an evildoer. 

Paul was writing to the Ephesian Christians who had strong 
affection for him. For three years he had lived in and about 
the city, and during that time ceased not to reveal the bless¬ 
ings of God. Such a Church would naturally be anxious to 
know about his health and prospect of release. 


178 


EPHESIANS 


“As I ought to speak.” Much depends upon this. He must 
indeed testify. That is of necessity, and he can only testify in 
harmony with the Master under whom he serves. A minister 
must speak as he ought to speak because he is under the 
authority of the chief shepherd and cannot, if he wants to 
have Christ’s will done, speak in any other way than under the 
direction of Him who gives him his commission. 

QUESTIONS 

What did Paul say about prayer in connection with the armor? 

Why did Paul say, “And on my behalf”? 

Why did not Paul ask prayer for deliverance from prison? 

Is the Gospel still a mystery? 

To whom was Paul an ambassador in bonds? 

VII. The Salutation—The Conclusion, 6:21-24 

The Ephesians among whom Paul spent three years in build¬ 
ing up the church, were deeply interested in behalf of Paul’s 
condition at Rome as a prisoner. He has been asking in this 
letter for their prayers, that he might open his mouth with bold¬ 
ness to declare the mystery of the Gospel. 

Ver. 21. But that ye also may know my affairs, how I do, 
Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, 
shall make known to you all things. 

Here we have an important statement for the Ephesians 
who want information about Paul. Paul is sending this Church 
letter with a man who is able to convey to the church the in¬ 
formation concerning Paul’s condition and his brethren who are 
with him, and of his sufferings during his imprisonment at 
Rome. This paragraph begins with “but” adding what follows 
concerning his affairs at Rome, as much as to say, “I want your 
prayers. Tychicus will tell you more about me than I can con¬ 
vey in this letter. I am sending him for this very purpose, 
that you may be relieved of your anxiety on my account.” 
Epaphras of Colossia had shown him the love in the Spirit that 


i 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


179 


was felt by him and those in the church who had never seen 
him in the flesh (Col. 1:8). The tender heart of the Apostle 
is touched by this assurance, so he sends Tychicus to visit as 
many of the churches of Asia as possible, bringing them news 
that will comfort their hearts and relieve their discouragement. 
He anticipates with some confidence his speedy delivery. Paul 
is likely soon to be free and we shall hear of him again. 

“Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the 
Lord.” This is the way that the Apostle introduces him to 
the Ephesians and all the church. His first association with 
Saint Paul is in Acts (20:4). The Pastoral Epistles show 
Tychicus in the Apostle’s service in his last years (2 Tim. 4: 12). 

Ver. 22. Whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, 
that ye may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts. 

“For this very purpose,” namely, that the Ephesians might 
know his affairs and those of the Church at Rome. Messengers 
of this kind frequently passed between the churches in those 
ancient times. 

“Comfort your hearts,” by showing them how powerfully 
he was upheld in his tribulation and how God turned his burdens 
into the furtherance of the Gospel. Now this must have given 
consolation not only to the people then living, but to all the 
followers of God. 

Ver. 23. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from 
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

All prosperity and continual union with God among your¬ 
selves. Love to God and man is the principle of all obedience 
and union. He breathes out this final blessing. 

“And love and faith.” These people, instructed as they 
were in this chapter, have faith in the one whom they call their 
Head, and a more fervent love. 

Ver. 24. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in (sincerity) uncorruptness. 

Love for Christ is the common life of all true Christians. 
The Christians who understand God’s part in bringing about 


180 


EPHESIANS 


salvation, inheritance, and glorification, have given to them a 
security in Christ, “Nothing can separate us from the love 
of Christ.” “If God be for us, who can be against us?” “He 
that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us 
will give us all things.” 

Thus understanding God’s side of our great salvation, the 
Christian’s love for Christ is such that it brings joy and 
security, no matter what the material and external conditions 
may be. Our love for Christ is immortal. Everything that 
God has done for us, purchasing our salvation through His 
redeeming love; everything is thus expressed in this one word, 
“Grace be with you.” The gift of the Holy Spirit is the all 
sufficiency of grace. He is the innermost sanctuary of our 
religion. 

“Love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” These are the 
last and sealing words of this letter. They stand as the crown 
and climax to this glorious Epistle. The Apostle has used the 
term in other passages as synonymous with immortality. We 
are raised in incorruption. This love is the life of the body 
of Christ. In it lies the church’s immortality. The gates of 
death prevail not against her. No separation from Christ. 
Not in life or death. Neither life nor death can part the soul 
from Him. This is above flesh and blood. Christ now is seated 
in Heavenly places. He and the church which is the body 
are above the realm of decay, waiting in Heavenly places. 

QUESTIONS 

Who is the bearer of this letter? 

What does Paul say as to his qualifications? 

What is the purpose of sending him? 

What was his mission besides the bearer of this letter? 

How many chapters does this Epistle contain? 

Give the seven subdivisions of the Epistle. 

Explain God’s purpose in the first chapter. 

Explain God’s purpose in the third chapter. 

What two great prayers are found in this book? 

What was Paul’s purpose in each of these prayers? 


DOCTRINAL AS TO OUR STATE 


181 


How does the teaching differ in the last two chapters from 
the first three chapters? 

Why was the armor introduced at the close of this letter? 

? 

Note: It is here because our blessings and standing are 
in the Heavenlies, and our conflict therefore, is in Heavenly 
places. If it were not for that, we would have no need of 
this Divine armor. We need the girdle of truth, the truth 
taught in Ephesians. We need the breastplate of righteous¬ 
ness, God’s righteousness as we have learned in the Book of 
Romans. We need the helmet of salvation combined in these 
two as revealed in God’s Word, which is the Spirit’s Sword, 
Faith’s shield is Christ. All is contained in Him and His 
grace or favor which gives us our standing in Him: “Blessed 
with all Spiritual blessings in Christ,” and Christ is the shield 
which preserves all these blessings to us. Faith can quench 
the fiery darts of the evil one. We have learned (Rom. 6: 11) 
“That by faith we know that we died and rose with Him.” 
We also learned (Eph. 2:6) that we sit in Heavenly places 
with Him. Through these Spiritual forces in the defense of 
spiritual blessings we shall be able to meet the foes of the 
Church and be true to the Captain of our salvation who has 
made us worthy to wear this Divine armor. 

THE END 


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